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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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SOME THINGS ABROAD 



BY 



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ALEXANDER McKENZIE 



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BOSTON 
D LOTHROP COMPANY 

FRANKLIN AND HAWLEY STREETS 



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Copyright, 1887, 
By D. LOTHROP COMPANY. 






Electrotyped 
By C, J. Peters & Son, Boston. ) 



^0 
JOHN N. DENISON, Esq., 

WITH GRATITUDE AND 
RESPECT. 



Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding fronn 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/soniethingsabroad01mcke 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. From New Yokk to Belfast 7 



II. From Belfast to Newcastle ...,».. 28 

III. From Newcastle Through Norway . . . . , 61 

lY. From Norway to Italy 118 

V. In Northern Jtaly 164 

VI. To AND Through Athens 192 

YII. In and About Constantinople 231 

VIII. From Constantinople to Damascus 265 

IX. In Damascus 304 

X. Banias and Tiberias .322 

XI. From Tiberias to Jerusalem ....... 348 

XII. In and Around Jerusalem ........ 394 

XIII. To THE End 440 



SOME THINGS ABROAD. 



CHAPTER L 

FKOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST, 

We were waiting for the hour of sailing when we 
walked out upon the bridge which joins New York 
and Brooklyn, and read the words of restriction and 
caution which were repeated for the benefit of travel- 
lers, — Keep to the right and keep moving. We felt 
the force of the counsel, and allowed it to settle in 
our minds as we turned to the unbridged sea. 

It was on the Fourth of July that we really began 
to move. The day was as hot as it could be, and the 
tar melted in the seams of the deck. It was refresh- 
ing to think of cooler airs, which were lying in wait 
for us. Days passed before we found complete relief. 
Between the hot sides of the ship and the hot 
air of the engine, our state-rooms were intolerable. 
When they became comfortable, the sea became rough, 
and the appearance of the upper deck changed, as it 
is accustomed to do in the process of the voyage. 
Men Avere fewer. Ladies concealed themselves en- 
tirely, or, encased in shawls, clung to their long chairs. 
A general seriousness prevailed ; while incipient 
friendships were nipped in the bud, and neighbors 
were interrupted in their promised intercourse, and 



8 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the ship rolled with might and main. But we were 
at sea, with no familiar faces to remind us of the 
land we had left, or to recall the discussions and 
conflicts that had grown wearisome. For us there 
was more calm on the sea than on the land. The 
incidents of the voyage were not remarkable. Yet 
it takes but little to enlist attention and interest in 
the long leisure and the somewhat persistent languor 
of mind which belongs to a landsman upon the 
deep. Of course, a few of the company were more 
conspicuous than their fellows. There was one gen- 
tleman from the British Provinces who carried good- 
nature on his round face, and dealt it out to every 
one who manifested any need of such cheer as he 
could impart. He had his opinions upon most sub- 
jects, and illustrative incidents were at his command. 
He was frank, and, some might say, intrusive. He 
was very fond of walking with the ladies, when walk- 
ing was permitted, and of chatting to them at 
other times. Yet he was still in the state in which 
he was created, because he had never met a woman 
who, upon his analysis of her character, answered 
his demands. He made no concealment of his fond- 
ness for conversation with those on whom he could 
not bestow a complete admiration. " They don't 
scrape you down to the brick," he remarked. This 
testimony seemed impressive and expressive. But, 
as I think upon it, I am at a loss to know from what 
department of masonry he drew his comparison, or 
why he should object to the intelligent scraping 
which removes what is superficial, and discloses the 
substantial character beneath. 



FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 9 

He was an indulgent story-teller, always pointing 
out the point of his narratives, and doing this re- 
peatedly in condescension to dull hearers. He liked 
to tell of a misguided goat who ate dried apples 
and drank water till he looked like a side-wheel 
steamer. This tale illustrated conscience, but he 
did not make the application clear. 

He was a man of experience, and when, on one of 
our early days, he announced that there is a way to 
be comfortable in a hot state-room, we listened hope- 
fully for the rule. The rule proved to be this: Find 
out how hot it is, and then adapt yourself to it. 
This was disappointing, and yet I doubt if he could 
have done better. He professed, more than once, to be 
shocked at the unbecoming conduct of his room-mate 
after a very warm night, when the poor fellow '' came 
up to the surface of his sensibilities," and, not heed- 
ing the supposed devotions of his companion, made a 
brief remark which had a resemblance to swearing. 

Then we had an English Nimrod who had been 
exploring our Far West. He told thrilling tales of 
his prowess. At his approach, the American buffa- 
loes fell upon their knees, and the deer, with the pit- 
eous tears chasing one another down their innocent 
noses, lay quiet at his feet ; while the eagle faltered 
in his flight and fluttered into the sportsman's hand. 
Possibly I exaggerate the statements, but I preserve 
the tone of th^m. 

We had also a long Romish priest, who had served 
as an army chaplain in India and Australia, and was 
talkative and good natured. His geography seemed 
a little confused, as he plainly thought that Captain 



10 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

Cook was killed in New Zealand. And he told of 
a man who had seen a hundred and twenty-five dif- 
ferent clubs with which the murder was committed. 
He amazed a bluff Scotchman with some story of a 
Parsee. " Was he an Englishman? " the Scotchman 
asked. "No; a Parsee." "Oh, he belongs to that 
country." "No, no; a Parsee — a fire-worshipper — 
a Persian." I do not think the man has yet found 
out why the priest was so emphatic ; he was certainly 
staggered at the priest's report of Parsee wealth, and 
of a hospital a mile long which one had built in India. 
The priest had brought back one other tale, of a man 
with whom he was once riding who refused to strike 
his beast because the soul of his brother was then re- 
siding in it. This was an inconvenient application 
of the doctrine of transmigration ; and it might be 
asked why he was willing to drive his brother at all. 

On our one Sabbath we were favored with a ser- 
mon from an American bishop. He had a fine pres- 
ence, a strong voice, an impressive manner. He had 
a good text, as they used to tell us at Andover, and 
the sermon was earnest and helpful. 

Our Canadian friend said that some people go 
through the world "like a paper-knife," smoothly 
and easily. It was in. this manner our passage w^as 
made, for the most part. On the morning of the 
13th of July we saw land, and, after running 
down the pleasant coast of Ireland, in the afternoon 
we left the Bothnia for the Jackal. We had a 
charming sail, for an hour, in the fine harbor of 
Queenstown, and then our feet were on Irish soil. 
The prudent custom-house officer inquired if we 



FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. H 

had tobacco or fire-arms, and, finding that we had 
neither, suffered us to go on our way. We found the 
people easy in their habits, and very deliberate. 
We demurred at the needless delay, and were told 
that Americans are in too much of a hurry. That 
may be true, — I fancy that it is. But I am sure 
that neither the lesson nor the instruction was 
attractive just then. We had time for a glimpse 
of Queenstown, which is more of a place than we 
expected to find. At length we were on the train. 
We had a delightful ride along the Lee to Cork, 
where we found quarters at the Imperial. They 
put us at. the top of the house, in recognition of our 
nationality or our personal worth. A fellow-passen- 
ger on the steamer invited us to drive about the 
city. The poor man had been greatly disturbed at 
Queenstown, by finding that his valise had fallen 
under the wheels of the dray and been crushed out 
of shape. He tried to obtain redress, but none was 
to be found. He was an old traveller, and did not 
let his equanimity be long disturbed. He engaged 
a jaunting-car, and gave us a very agreeable hour. 
The large, busy city, with its fine buildings, is in 
strong contrast to the Cork of the stranger's imag- 
ination. We found that men, women, and children 
had a way of walking in the streets endangering 
their lives and bothering the drivers, who are con- 
tinually screaming " Whayl " which is understood at 
once and opens the way for the approaching carriage. 
There was an evident good-nature which was agree- 
able. There was a distinct recognition of America 
in the sign over one shop, — " Waltham Watches." 



12 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

I ventured to have a strain of Irish blood added to 
my own timepiece, in the confidence that it would 
not produce any aberration. 

The chief thing to see at Cork is Blarney Castle, 
which we visited, by an Irish boy and a jaunting-car. 
The castle is a fine old ruin, and well managed. 
There are two gates, an inner and outer ; and, by 
keeping a man at each, they secure a double fee, 
which becomes a treble fee when you have gone 
further in. It was claimed that special favor was 
shown to Americans in regard to visiting-days. A 
woman received us at the castle, and descanted 
volubly on the ruins. We were allowed to wander 
about at our pleasure. The Blarney stone was 
found in its place, but, as I had little use for elo- 
quence at that time, I contented myself with touch- 
ing it. This was much easier than kissing would have 
been, which there does not go by favor, but by un- 
easily twisting and turning, thrusting the body 
into a window, and bending down the head till the 
lips press the stone in the face of the wall. The 
country was very pleasant as we drove through it. 
The little stone houses, many of them with thatched 
roofs, were picturesque. The trees were heavy with 
foliage, and the roadside flowers were pretty, as they 
always are. There was less evidence of care than in 
the hedges and lawns of England, but Ireland was 
green enough to justify her reputation. The chil- 
dren whom we met looked sleek and well fed, though 
their clothes were in a less creditable condition. 
There was an air of innocent trustfulness in the 
faces of the people, except, perhaps, those of the old 



FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 13 

women. It seemed queer to be in a land where 
Irish is the mother-tongue. It was not always easy 
to understand it. Donkeys abounded, and had a 
patient, overworked look, though they seemed to 
be on good terms with their owners. 

On Saturday afternoon we left Cork, and, after a 
journey of six hours, reached Killarney. The very 
name was alluring, and the place at once promised 
to fulfil our desires. There are the finest mountains 
and lakes of Ireland. Walter Scott said that he had 
seen no grander lake than the middle one at Killar- 
ney, saving only Loch Lomond. We found a fine 
hotel, — the Royal Victoria, — and settled down for 
the Sabbath. These lakes would be thronged if they 
were near one of our large cities. All that could 
be asked is there, — delightful scenery, cool airs, 
pleasant drives, charming walks, good fishing and 
sailing. It is a place to be sought, and which will 
long be remembered. On many a weary day I shall 
sigh for the repose of Killarney. There was no 
church near the Lakes, so that we had leisure to 
commune with our own thoughts and be still. 

On Monday we made the grand excursion, in com- 
pany with some of the Bothnia s passengers. The 
excursion takes the whole day, and rewards the in- 
vestment. Besides what one sees in the way of 
scenery, there are various side-shows which are 
thrust upon his notice. The first fact which is made 
apparent is that all the people live on the traveller. 
You bargain at the hotel for all you want, and agree 
to pay a good price for it. Do not think that is the 
end. You have scarcely lost sight of the house 



14 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

before gay cavaliers gather about you and almost 
force you to ride two or three ponies. Boys and 
girls solicit your monej^ " to buy a book, sir." As 
a friend of female education, I cheerfully gave a 
penny to a girl, who laughed and begged in the same 
breath, and specified the '' Fourth Reader " as the book 
which her attainments demanded. Kate Kearney 
stands at the door of her hut, with a bottle in one 
hand and a pitcher in the other, and business in her 
untamed eye. She, has none of the beauty of her 
famed ancestress, but she has goat's milk and moun- 
tain dew, which she is willing to part with for a 
suitable consideration. Thenceforth women attend 
you. They run at your horse's side, in bare feet, 
and beg you to buy stockings. They flourish two 
bottles and crave your patronage for the two kinds 
of beverage just mentioned, while their red shawls 
wave in the wind, and their fluent tongues invoke 
upon you long life and other blessings. From all 
this, if your horse is fleet, you may run away. But 
there is no escape from your legitimate attendants. 
Not a man whom you have hired is content with the 
price agreed upon. Each one makes his separate 
appeal to your compassion, and confidently holds out 
his hand. He expresses his discontent with your 
alms, and turns away like a wretch you have 
wronged. This unprofessional beggary is the worst 
of all ; the hardest to satisfy and the least thank- 
ful. This custom of begging prevails throughout 
the island. Common beggars are not quite every- 
where, but the uncommon ones abound. You run a 
gauntlet from the Lakes of Killarney to the Giant's 



FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 15 

Causeway. You have almost to escape from your 
hotel by stealth, if you have funds enough left to 
take you to the nearest banker's. 

The scenery was very impressive as we rode 
through the Gap of Dunloe. Wild, dark, sublime, 
solemn were the mountains which enclosed us. We 
rode through the Black Valley, but saw no traces of 
the railroad of that name of which we had heard. 
There were signs that it was not far away. We 
passed the place where St. Patrick craftily boxed up 
the snakes, and threw them into the water. The 
work was thoroughly done, for not a snake was to 
be seen. The driver said only an approaching storm 
can awaken them, when they throw the waters into 
tumult. " They will come out day after to-mor- 
row, which never comes." At Lord Brandon's cot- 
tage we took a large boat with four rowers and were 
carried about eleven miles. At a certain point the 
boat was stopped, and we w^ere asked to solve the 
Killarney puzzle — how to get out of the lake. The 
captain promised a bottle of Irish whiskey to any 
one who should guess right, and expected one from 
each person who failed. He was disappointed. 
There was only one correct guess, yet no bottles 
changed hands. 

We were then driven to Muckross Abbey, the 
finest ruin in Ireland. The cloister is in almost per- 
fect preservation, with the customary yew-tree in the 
centre of the open space. The monuments are nu- 
merous, and the ivy is luxuriant. A young man of 
the company expressed a desire to see the yule-tree 
from which the yule-log is cut, but there was no w^ay 



16 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

of gratifying him. We were ticketed in to see the 
Tore waterfall, which is the best in these parts. 
We saw Ross Castle in its decay, and from its 
broken wall had a fine view. It was a famous for- 
tress in the old wars. The place was beset with 
women, who had for sale a variety of things made 
of the bog-oak and arbutus-wood. To the solici- 
tation of one woman some one said ''No"; where- 
upon she cried after him, "Such a fascinating young 
man as you to say ' No ' to a lady ! " We took 
boat again, and were taken past Innisfallen and its 
ruins, which we had no time to visit. Then we 
crossed the rough waters of the lower lake, Lough 
Leane, and disembarked near the hotel. It was a 
very pleasant excursion, very faithfully carried out. 

We came northward by rail to Dublin, where, in 
the Shelbourne, we found "the best hotel in the 
United Kingdom" — so some travellers say. But 
"best" is a word to be used with caution. It 
was certainly a fine house, though it gave us rather 
narrow accommodations. On the side of a jaunting- 
car and on the top of a tramway carriage we had an 
outside view of the inside of the city. There is the 
Cathedral, dating from the twelfth century — the 
first church in Ireland in which the liturgy was read 
in the English language. And St. Patrick's Cathe- 
dral, on the site of the church built by the national 
saint. Among the memorials in this cathedral are 
the simple marble slabs which mark the graves of 
Swift, and "Stella" whose name and life were so 
closely and darkly associated with his. There, too, 
is the monument of Whately, with the Archbishop 



FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 17 

reclining upon it. The ancient castle has been mod- 
ernized, like so many other buildings of its time, but 
preserves something of its old estate. When we 
were in Dublin, the most familiar local name was 
Phoenix Park, which had been recently the scene of 
the cruel murder in which madness expressed its 
hatred of English rule. We knew it was in Dublin 
that Tom Moore was born, and Wellington, and that 
O'Connell for a long time had his residence. But 
we could not stay even to see what has been named. 

We moved on to Belfast, second in rank of the 
Irish cities, but had only two hours for a drive 
through its fine streets and among its comely build- 
ings. 

Still moving northward, we came to Portrush and 
the Northern Counties Railway Hotel. The house 
was formerly the Antrim Arms, but has surrendered 
that fine name for one more remunerative. The 
connecting of railroads and hotels has become com- 
mon in the United Kingdom, and has some advantages. 
But it is a pity to lose the good old names. The 
view from our windows, which looked over the wide 
sea from the very end of Ireland, could only be grand 
even to eyes which were accustomed to the sea. 
Close at hand were the Skerries, with their light- 
houses. The Skerries, for '^Skerry" is applied to 
any isolated rock in the sea. We had a pleasant 
walk, and saw a good many of the people. There 
had been apparently an excursion from some other 
place, and we were amused and interested in watch- 
ing the embarkation of the returning voyagers. 

We devoted the next day to the chief attraction 



18 SOME THINGS ABEOAD. 

of the locality. But before we saw the Giant's 
Causeway, we saw what was almost as great a mar- 
vel in this remote region, a horse railroad with the 
cars drawn by an electric engine, — I am imitating the 
Irish method of writing, "This is the Premier Elec- 
tric Tramway," " the first in the United Kingdom, 
and the largest in the world." The novelty disgusts 
the hotel-keepers, who find their tourists spirited 
away from their doors, and the drivers of jaunting- 
cars, who find the tramway preferred above their 
own vehicles. Eight miles of the tramway brought 
us into the midst of guides and boatmen who were 
lying in wait, prepared to render all manner of ser- 
vice, desirable and undesirable. It was necessary to 
employ a portion of them, and it seemed best to bar- 
gain with them before setting out, though this latter 
part of the arrangement was of less value than a 
stranger would suppose. We were so fortunate as 
to secure the services of the best boatmen there. 
We knew this, for one of them assured us that it 
was the fact. We were taken into the smallest cave 
where a boy, for whose presence we had not been 
able to account, accounted for himself by producing 
an old pistol and arousing the numerous echoes of 
the place. We had not asked for this luxury, but 
we paid for it, and the boy left us for fresh victims. 
We Avere then taken into the larger cave, as the day 
was favorable for this, and we looked in wonder on 
its awful grandeur. Then we rowed and sailed past 
the cliffs, getting a very fine view of them, when 
our guides took us for a short walk over what seemed 
to be sunken columns. When this excursion was 



FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 19 

over, the guides announced that their mission was 
ended, and that the time for payment had arrived. 
As a matter of course, they demanded more than we 
had agreed upon, but we thought upon their superior 
qualifications, which we certainly should not have 
discovered, and we added to the stipulated amount. 
That was not all. Each guide was armed with a 
rough wooden box, covered with newspaper and la- 
boriously surrounded with twine. At an auspicious 
moment two of these were opened in our boat, and 
we were asked to buy both or either. There seemed 
to be no partnership in this traffic. The boxes proved 
to be filled with specimen stones, arranged in straw- 
berry fashion — the best on the top. We bought 
more than we wanted. Could we do less? After 
that came men with broken pieces of double- 
refracting spar, which has the power of making 
one shilling look like two. I adopt their illus- 
tration, though I noticed that they did not use the 
spar for this purpose when collecting their pay. All 
the mysterious powers of the stone were given up to 
the purchaser. If one should buy all the stones 
that are offered him, he would need to hire all the 
men and women who infest the rocks to carry them 
for him. Yet it is not easv to choose when vou want 
none but must take some. We came upon a queer old 
man who was selling water from the '' Giant's well." 
There was some variety even in his simple enterprise, 
for he had a cup for the well and a bottle for the 
still. The ''mountain dew" had evidently collected 
in the bottle. When we asked for a drink of the 
water, I thought it prudent to remark that we did 



20 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

not desire any appendage from the bottle. ^' Will 
you wait — " he said. ''But we don't want any of 
that." " Will you just wait — " he persisted in ask- 
ing. " But I tell you we don't want anything 
from the bottle ! " And the queer old man, in a 
solemn, almost reproachful tone, made answer : 
'' Will you just wait till you're asked ? " We waited. 
When we had refreshed ourselves from the spring, 
I sought to draw the offended gentleman into con- 
versation. '' Did the giants drink of this spring?" I 
inquired. '* No, the giants drink of no spring." 
'' But they say that when the giants piled up these 
rocks, they used to come to this well," I ventured to 
remark. '' No giants built up these rocks," he 
answered. '' Who did, then ? " " The one who 
made these things is the One above," — and he 
pointed toward the sky. I found that he was get- 
ting the better of me, and I hastened to reply that 
we ought to try to please Him who is so great and 
has done such wonderful things. He assented to 
this, and added that he feared we do not please 
Him. I said that some day we should see Him. " I 
hope so," he continued; " I hope that we may have 
one look." Then we left him. But it is a strange 
scene even now as I look back upon it, — the grand 
cliffs, the vast sea, and all the strange sublimity, and 
in the midst this lone priest in the Temple of the 
Giants, standing by the spring among the rocks, 
with a tin cup in one hand and a bottle of whiskey 
in the other, turning upward his red face, and point- 
ing with a finger, set free for this purpose, to the 
dwelling-place of Him who has uplifted and upholds 



FROM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 21 

the mountains. Well, who shall say how much he 
thought and hoped in his long solitude, or Avhat he 
has learned in a life which must have had its vicissi- 
tudes. It may be that his ruddy cheeks will look 
less earthy when the hand of death has passed over 
them. Who does not look for some gain in that 
transformatio'h ? 

We sat in the " wishing chair " of rock, w^hich the 
guide said was also the '' Giant's chair." It was a 
much frequented place, but the visitors did not look 
like descendants of the giants. Afterward we sat 
in another chair, nearer the sea, which is said to be 
the real seat of the giants. It was reasonably com- 
fortable as a chair, and we had it to ourselves, which 
was a marked advantage. 

I have said very little of the "Causeway." The 
ride to it from Portrush was very pleasant by the 
sea, among the cliffs, over the gorges. We passed 
Dunluce Castle, an old ruin, which crowns the iso- 
lated cliff where it has stood for five hundred years. 
The Causeway has been so often described and pic- 
tured that I need not attempt to present it here. 
Everybody knows how it looks. It is not quite 
what we supposed, but it is fully as grand and 
strange. To walk over the tops of huge columns 
sunk in the depths, to look up at the towering peaks 
and mountains of rock, to wander along the baj's 
between the cliffs, to penetrate the deep caves, to 
gaze upon the ocean beyond whose borders lies the 
land we love, — this is full of interest and wonder : 
surprising, awakening, quieting ; stirring the deep 
emotions of mind and heart. It would be well to 



22 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

linger among these stuj^endous works and sIoayIj 
receive their inspiration. The grandeur grows as 
the hours pass, and the eye and the mind expand to 
the proportions of the place. But we had to move 
on. We came again among men and Avomen. We 
resisted their solicitation to purchase mosses and 
fragments of the rocks ; we had our final look at 
their miseries and our final listening to their com- 
plaints, and came back to the civilization of Port- 
rush, and then moved on at once toward Scotland. 

Before we leave Ireland there are a few more 
things to be said, which may be set together here. 
There is a great deal of interest attached to the 
people of this island. They are wonderfully good- 
natured and very obliging. They are talkative, but 
kindly. The jollity is toned down as their estate 
improves, but outof-doors and along the road the wit 
and humor remain. They seem to take life easily, 
and to make the best of the seasons which are short 
and hard for shillings, sixpences, and strangers 
to dispense them. Even their extortion and vexa- 
tion have but a brief existence. Plainly the people 
are poor. The cottages must be barren places to 
live in, and the national drink is somewhat expen- 
sive. We saw no signs of hunger. We were not 
in the right quarter for that. We saw health and 
length of days. Indeed, it is a fact which disturbs 
our estimates a little that the Irish race deteriorates 
on our soil. The generation born in America is not 
equal physically to that which came over the seas. 
The change in the habits of life does not work in 
their favor, in this regard at least. 



FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 23 

As a whole, our first impression was sustained. 
There was clearly more to eat than there was to 
wear. Economy in dress was evidently a necessity. 
We saw one barefoot woman with her shoes in a 
basket on her head. She was waiting for ex- 
tremes to meet, as in some domains they have a way 
of doing. Animal life was represented by donkeys 
and crows, with here and there a horse, and now and 
then a cow. A stray sheep occasionally came in 
sight, and there was on the hills and plains a sprink- 
ling of goats, which called to mind the sequestered 
outskirts of New York. We saw men cutting peat, 
which they stack for drying, and we enlarged our 
knowledge of Natural History by learning that in a 
few years from the time when they are stripped, the 
bogs are supplied with a new crop of the national 
fuel. 

As we went northward, the people looked better. 
The women in the fields wore shoes and stockings, 
which may be regarded as marking the boundary be- 
tween poverty and less poverty. The sleek, plump 
children had a more comfortable aspect than those 
of the same class in some other countries. I asked 
why the people in the north were better off than 
those in the south, but the answers were not satis- 
factory. One said they were more industrious in 
the north, and had better land. But the land in the 
north is certainly not the best in the island. It is 
common to ascribe the advantage to the prevalence 
of Protestantism. But whether the Protestant faith 
and institutions are cause or effect, as relates to 
the well-being of the people, did not appear on the 



24 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

spot. I presume that they are both. That they are 
a superior sort of folk at the north was clear enough. 
I cannot discuss Irish questions here, but no one 
can travel through the island, even as hastily as I 
did, without feeling that the people deserve a better 
history than has been made for them. The men at 
the north were anxious to have it imderstood that 
they were not rebels and discontents : that it is at 
the south riot and murder assert themselves. They 
complain that the name of Irishman is made to bear 
reproach which is sectional, and from which they 
ought to be free. The point is well taken and 
easily appreciated. We were continually reminded 
of a past. Ruined castles were on the hill-tops, and 
were so numerous that after a time we scarcelv 
troubled ourselves to look at them as we rode bj^ 
They are the witnesses to times which have gone. 
Rough times they were, but not wanting in heroism 
and virtue. 

We thought of the fame which has perished: of 
the days when this was the " Island of Saints " ; when 
its schools were renowned and drew scholars from 
other lands ; when its missionaries went out with 
civilization and religion. We saw one sign in Dub- 
lin which seemed a relic of the more learned years. 
It was on a druggist's shop : Medicce adsunt artes^ 
herbarumque potestas. 

Is the record of that time closed ? Is there to be 
a coming back of renown and power ? Ireland in 
her great cities gives an impression of wealth and 
strength. May there not come, in the slow process 
of the suns, a reviving of the light and life ? The 



FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 25 

sympathy of the traveller makes him hope for this. 
The echoes of Dunloe are quickly started by the 
cannon and trumpet, and the pittance of coin which 
the tourist is expected to bestow. The land is full 
of silence which easily breaks into sound, and the 
voices leap from hill to hill in long reverberations. 
Who will not hope that the land is to be awakened 
from its troubled sleep, and regain the place which 
it has lost ! Violence will not accomplish this. 
But time and reason and right may bring it all to 
pass. 

There is another point upon which I am con- 
strained to say a few words. It is the abandonment 
of national customs and the importation of foreign 
ways in hotel life. In Ireland we would like to see 
Irish usages at the table, that we may know what 
the people eat, and how it is served. A table which 
was characteristic of the country would have a charm 
of its own, even if the manner of it was not thought 
worthy of imitation. In out-of-the-way places the 
methods of the people may be found, I presume. 
But at Killarney the table was Parisian. The wait- 
ers appeared as if attired for a metropolitan ball, and 
the menu was written in French and was a list of 
unknown dishes, some of which retained their incog- 
nito to the close. This usage prevails through the 
island. At Portrush the menu was chiefly in Eng- 
lish, but the meaning remained French. At the 
Giant's Causeway we found a steward or head- 
waiter who might have been chief-justice of the dis- 
trict, so far as dress and manners were concerned. 
He did not hold that lofty position, nor did his ap- 



26 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

pearance attract us to the board over which he spread 
the shadow of his magnificence. This is all a mis- 
take. Let each country preserve its individuality. 
It will be more honest, and far more interesting and 
profitable. 

There is another thing which one misses in travel : 
that is himself. At home he has a name, a title, 
house, office, honors, and much which separates him 
from the throng. His comings and goings are no- 
ticed, and his identity and self-respect are preserved. 
He goes abroad and all this is changed. He passes 
through the process which awaits the convict in the 
prison and the patient in the hospital. He is num- 
bered, and by his number he is known. The waiter 
has only to ask, "What is your number, sir?" 
When the bill is made out, it is only a number which 
is debtor for board and lodging. At Killarney I was 
No. 50; at Dublin 37. In Portrush I became 72. 
I sympathized with Mother Hubbard in her efforts 
to find out who she was. How all this shrinks the 
volume of complacency with which a man ventures 
with his merit and name into the world ! There are 
advantages in this loss. For a time it is agreeable 
rather than otherwise. To have no dignity to main- 
tain, no responsibilities to fulfil, no name to bear, is 
at first a relief. But soon a man wearies of being 
nobody, and having nobody know that he is nobody. 
If he has some companion to whom he can remark 
that nonentity is delightful, and that there is beauty 
in the curve that makes a cipher, even the obscur- 
ity has a charm. I had one of the best of compan- 
ions in an observing and inquisitive boy, interested 



FBOM NEW YORK TO BELFAST. 27 

in everything, patient under all provocation, and 
wise in liis estimates of persons and things. I real- 
ized that whatever is pleasant is pleasanter when a 
friend is at hand; the grandeur of the mountains, 
the breadth and verdure of the fields, the gloom and 
silence of the gorges, the wandering streams and the 
unfathomed sea. With a friend the castles can be 
rebuilt and repeopled; not with ghostly forms, but 
with veritable Irishmen, the O'Sullivans and their 
compeers. On the other side, there is little comfort 
in being miserable unless some one knows it. 
Grumbling lacks half its charm when it finds no lis- 
tening ear and responding growl. 

But come, 72 ! Enough of this. Call your boy. 
The G-orilla waits. '' All clear, sir ! " And the 
steamer glides from the harbor of Belfast with her 
prow towards Caledonia, Our quarters were close, 
but we had an extra man in our stateroom to make 
up for the want of space. It seems to be the Irish 
way. We slipped off the numbers of Erin, and 
moved on. In the morning, only an hour or two be- 
hind time, we were at the pier in Glasgow. 



CHAPTER II. 

FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 

This chapter begins with Friday, July 20, and in 
Glasgow. 

It was with confidence born of recollection that 
we ordered the driver to take us to the '' Queen's." 
We found that hy- some law of retrogression the 
" Queen's " had become the " George." But it was 
the same house. What's in a name ? I recall the 
answer of a young parishioner to that question, 
"A good name is rather to be chosen than great 
riches." Either of these names was good enough 
for the very comfortable hotel in which we settled 
for a few days. At once I became 52. I do not 
know whether that is an ascent or descent from 
Portrush. Poor Marshal used to say in college, 
that he should stand very high if the class was ever 
turned around. 

The guide-book informed us that Glasgow is a 
city of very ancient origin, and the third in the 
kingdom in riches and people. Its growth has been 
in its later years. It has now a population of more 
than half a million, and is the seat of extensive and 
varied manufacturing. It has one chimney four 
hundred and sixty-eight feet high. With this valu- 
able information in our hands we went into the busy 

28 



FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 29 

streets. George Square is in front of the hotel, and 
this fact may have given the new name to the house. 
There we found equestrian statues of the queen and 
the prince consort, and statues of Scott, Peel, Sir 
John Moore, and another in whom Scotland may 
indulge a loftier pride, Livingstone. We soon made 
our way to the Cathedral, which was full of interest, 
as cathedrals always are. This has one peculiarity 
among the great houses of Great Britain, that it be- 
longs to the Presbyterians. This would have shown 
us that we were over the border, if there had been 
nothing else to remind us of it. The Cathedral has 
the weight of seven centuries upon it, though it has 
received additions of modern and modernizing glass. 
The crypt has the deep solemnity and stately propor- 
tions which have given it high rank in ecclesiastical 
architecture. We passed through to the Necropolis 
which is connected jvvith the Cathedral hill by the 
"Bridge of Sighs." There we saw the towering 
column of John Knox, who deserves this place of 
honor; the man so strong, bold, and severe, for 
whom the robes of a bishop and the dignities of the 
world had no attraction, who held with a rigid mind 
and stout hand to the hard realities, and was con- 
trolled by an energy which submitted to no restraint 
and which '' put more life into him than six hundred 
trumpets." There, too, is the statue of another man 
of might, who will long fill a large place in the relig- 
ious history of his country. As his funeral proces- 
sion passed along the street, a man in workman's 
attire, whose hands and arms showed that he was of 
the people, gave this witness from his heart: "There 



30 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

goes Norman Macleod. If he had done no more 
than what he did for my soul, he would shine as the 
stars forever." These are the men who last: the men 
whom we would like to have live. 

There is evident in these monuments a desire to 
commemorate the occupation of those who lie be- 
neath them. We read of William Miller, " the laureate 
of the nursery," ^'Author of Wee Willie Winkie," 
which is probably well known among those who will 
read the inscription. We read of other vocations, 
confectioner, cloth-lapper, boot-maker, seed-merchant. 
We know that in the highest sense a man's works do 
follow him, and it is not unfitting that the fact should 
be recognized in the memorial of him. A man's 
honest calling, in which he has made his chief gift to 
the world, has a claim to be known where he is re- 
membered. It is a part of him. Perhaps it would 
be well to have this in mind when we choose what 
we will do. 

A very good way in which to get a view of a town 
is to ride on the outside of an omnibus or horse-car. 
We adopted this method of surveying Glasgow, after 
we had looked down upon it from among the monu- 
ments. We took the long road by the fine botanic 
garden at pleasant Kelvinside. 

I have spoken of the hotel tables in Ireland. Sim- 
ilar methods prevail beyond the North Channel and 
the Irish Sea. But our first dinner in Scotland 
opened appropriately with "hotchpotch." That has 
a Scotch sound. The lobster was undoubtedly na- 
tive, though it presented an unhistoric appearance. 
One of the waiters had borrowed its livery and 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 31 

blazed about us in a red jacket with brass buttons 
for sparks. So we came on to the strawberries, 
which were large and early, and were given to us 
with their hulls on. That must be the original man- 
ner. We were not so far from nature as we might 
have expected. 

Saturday morning was rainy. There was nothing 
remarkable in that, nor was it altogether discourag- 
ing. It seemed to be a feature of the weather in 
these parts that it seldom remained of one sort 
through the day. We devoted the day to the lakes. 
One of us had seen them before, as he had seen 
much of this Scotch land. An hour by train 
brought us to Balloch Pier, where we took the 
steamer Prince Consort for Inversnaid. Loch 
Lomond was gloomy under the clouds, and perhaps 
preferred that setting for its grand mountains. We 
enjoyed all we could, and that was much. But the 
cold and the drizzle interfered with our comfort. 
Yet this was Loch Lomond, with its islands and 
hills, and Rob Roy's prison on the banks, and tradi- 
tions of chieftains in the air. We took the stage 
for Stronachlachar Pier, where we found a comfort- 
able house and a refreshing lunch. Then we went 
out upon Loch Katrine in the Mob Roy, The 
weather had improved ; the sunshine fell on the 
serene water; the inevitable photograph boy could 
display his wares on deck, while the voyagers could 
enjoy the reality whose images he desired to make 
us own. The scenery was the finest we had seen. 
Ellen's Isle had its own beauty, as it sat fair and 
green in the lake, wearing its garland of story and 



32 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

song. After leaving the steamer, we were driven to 
the Trossachs, and rested for a time at the castel- 
lated hotel where I had spent a pleasant Sabbath 
years before. Then we rode by Loch Achray and 
Loch Venachar, through a district full of familiar 
romance, till we reached Callander, where we found 
the train which took us back to Glasgow. Reflec- 
tion : It would be a relief if this region were rid of 
speculation. To have a fee demanded at every turn, 
and photographs and wooden ware intruded upon 
the gaze which is fixed on mountains and lakes, adds 
nothing to the delights of travel. Where " every 
prospect pleases," there is a man trying to make 
money out of it. Possibly I should have finished that 
sentence by lengthening the citation from the hymn 
instead of writing a thought of my own.. In these 
places one wishes to see and hear as little as may be 
of buying and selling. Yet monetary affairs are 
more obtrusive than at home. The Scotch would 
say, " This is a needcessity," but I wish it was not. 

Our homeward journey took us through Stirling, 
past the old castle, of which we had a fine view. 
We had to think upon its wealth of historic associa- 
tions, and to imagine how grand the view from its 
walls must be, and to keep moving. We returned 
to Glasgow in a crowd. There had been a fair, 
which had closed the workshops for ten days, and 
many of the work-people had improved the opportu- 
nity for visiting their friends. On this Saturday 
night they were returning from their holiday. A 
plain woman who was in our compartment was very 
communicative and instructive as we rode through 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 33 

places which she knew and we did not. Let me 
close the week by copying a sign which is capable 
of more than one interpretation. And what does it 
mean? "Royal Liver Friendly Society." A com- 
mon sign runs, ''Boots repaired while you wait." 
Could they be mended at any other time? 

Sunday morning was very pleasant. I studied the 
list of churches to know whither it was best to go, 
and selected one with the name of whose minister I 
was acquainted. We were a little late in reaching 
the church, and found no one in the vestibule ; we 
opened a door, entered the audience-room, Bnd found 
an empty pew. We could have found many more. 
We ventured to take a seat. No one assented or 
objected. The minister was engaged in prayer. 
His allusion to the absent pastor made it clear that 
he was a stranger. I had inferred that from his 
general bearing, in a hasty glance. It is so strange 
that ministers will leave their people in this way ! 
The good man prayed that the absent pastor might 
be blessed in preaching, if he was preaching, or in 
resting, if he was resting. That was a comprehen- 
sive statement. Few people stood during the 
prayer, but none during the singing, which was by 
the congregation, and was good. There was no 
organ. Then followed a psalm ; and another prayer, 
of a wider range than the first. The sermon was 
from a great text : '' For me to live is Christ." The 
preacher said many good things in fifty minutes, but 
he divided his minutes badly, and was hurried when 
he came where he needed time the most. The ser- 
mon was not commonplace, but it was not in tune 



34 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

with the text. He attempted analysis where it was 
soul and spirit which he wanted. On the heights of 
his theme he rambled into exposition and speedily 
fell into exhortation. He did not see that the apos- 
tle was revelling in the sublime consciousness of his 
union with his risen Lord ; that he was not teaching 
philosophy, but opening his heart and letting his 
inspired passion burst into an exclamation which 
can no more be dissected and reasoned about than 
can the throbbing of the soul. He could not leave 
the truth where St. Paul left it. He must show 
how it was, when there was no "how." It just 
was. It was Christ, his Life, with sparkle and 
delight, with melody and rhythm, with a limitless 
exuberance of which we can sometimes, under the 
stars, feel ourselves partakers. Language is beggared, 
imagery falters. The spirit feels, and in feeling 
knows. Out of this feeling it puts its finger on the 
life of another soul and wakens it to singing, and it 
teaches the new song. It was a good sermon ; but 
it was a sermon. He was a good man ; but he was 
a man. Unction is from above. He had it in his 
measure. But, oh how far beyond us all was that 
great human heart which found its life at the gate 
of Damascus, and felt the oil of God and the breath 
of heaven, and knew "the power of an endless life !" 
In the evening I went to the Cathedral. It was a 
"people's service," and the church was crowded. I 
stood with many others. The singing by the con- 
gregation, led by the choir, was spirited and impres- 
sive. The officiating minister was one who is best 
known as "The Country Parson." His essays were 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 35 

popular in their time, though no one seems to read 
them now ; vet they are good reading. He intoned 
the prayers — I suppose it was intoning. It was 
puerile enough for that process. If any one wishes 
to hear this absurdity carried to an extreme, let him 
listen to a man who pronounces English with a local 
accent and brogue. Yet this was a man of gray 
hair, which was scant enough to have restrained him 
from trifling with sacred things. His sermon was 
from the two words, " Get wisdom." It was a much 
easier text than that of the morning. The sermon 
was in the style of the essays, bright and light, crisp 
and fresh. The matter was not original, but the 
treatment was. The style reminded me of the essay, 
"Concerning the Art of Putting Things." He put 
things well. He spoke in the language of his hear- 
ers. They could not mistake his meaning. He said 
that wisdom is not that ct)mmon-sense which is born 
in a man and cannot be acquired. It is better than 
that, and can be gained. Some tell us that wisdom 
is not the same thing as knowledge. *' Well, what 
man in his senses ever supposed it was?" To know 
what one ought to do, and to have the purpose to do 
it, is wisdom. Wisdom in the Bible concerns itself 
with the heart ; it belongs with morals. Wisdom 
will be given to us if we ask it, and in it we may 
grow. 

An American congregation would have been 
pleased with the sermon, but those who heard it did 
not appear to see its merit. Or was this only the 
absence of expression; a stolid way of listening? 
They may have felt more than they showed. But 



36 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

an American audience would have helped the 
preacher by signs of approval, by the answer of 
the face. 

As I left the Cathedral the setting sun was casting 
its light through the fine west window, and the 
whole scene was beautiful. The stately old house is 
worthily used for a service especially suited to " the 
people." The service could easily have been better 
suited to their wants and tastes, and could have left 
a deeper impression on their hearts. But, as it was, 
it was something for which to be glad. The multi- 
tudinous waves of sound which rolled under the 
high arches had surely uplifted the great assembly 
of men and women. The effort to make their great 
churches useful to "the people " — as if we were not 
all people, though bearing or not bearing the marks 
of nobility — is to be commended. Yet it suggests 
the distinction at which I have just hinted, and that 
is not well. " The people " do not wish to be 
patronized, nor will they be content with the use of 
our best churches at the hours when we prefer to be 
at home. What to do for ''the people" is one of 
the problems on both sides of the ocean. Suppose 
we stand with them, and regard them as children 
with us of the Father who is in heaven and on 
earth, living side by side with us in his love, hasten- 
ing with us to the house which is above ! But I 
must not preach. 

As I walked home I came upon a street preacher 
violently haranguing a small collection of men and 

bovs. He seemed more in earnest than his hearers. 

t/ 

"- Salvation Army Barracks " looked out from a 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 37 

street lantern, but none of the soldiers were visible. 
On the tramways when your fare is taken the con- 
ductor gives you a ticket which is not taken back, 
so that you amass a collection in a few days. The 
fire-alarm boxes in the streets look like iron banjos. 
With these desultory notes we enter upon Monday. 
We left Glasgow at eight o'clock in the morning. 
We took the train to Greenock, and there embarked 
on the steamer Coluinha. It is instructive to notice 
how history and biography and nature stamp them- 
selves, not only on their country, but even on the 
names of conveyances by land and sea. At Ardris- 
haig we landed and walked to the Crinan Canal, 
where the Linnet \Y2iitQA to carry us through the canal, 
when the lona took us up for Oban. It was a wonder- 
ful day's sail, as the maps will show. The scenery 
w^as fine and varied; the islands had their own special 
interest, — Bute and Arran and Mull and Kerrara, 
and the rest, — while the Kyles of Bute and the Bay 
of Crinan and the Sound of Luing opened up a waj^ 
among them where they were arranged in forms of 
grandeur and beauty. But the air was cold and the 
wind was high, so that we had to take the scenery 
in instalments, and to shelter ourselves in the saloon 
between our observations. In the canal the lochs 
were numerous, and we amused ourselves in watch- 
ing the operation of them. Quite as exciting was 
the gathering of boys and girls at the first loch. 
Each had a tin pail and a tumbler, and each voice 
kept up the one cry, " Any milk, sir?" They ran 
from loch to loch, crying as they ran, now and then 
securing a customer, for whom they seemed grateful. 



38 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

and a penny, which was their objective point. 
They wore only Nature's attire on their locomotive 
arrangements, and there was not a pretty face 
among them. Very appropriately a bagpiper ap- 
peared at one place and played us a welcome to the 
Highlands. It was a very graceful attention, but 
it marred the romance of the greeting to have him 
pass round his hat afterwards. Perhaps he had that 
in view all the time. But he did not get much. 
We left out our side of the attention. 

Oban is finely situated on the curving shore. 
The houses are near the beautiful bay, for the most 
part, while a few creep up on the hills which shut in 
the little town, but as a recompense give a beautiful 
outlook to any one who will go up to their summit. 
Oban has become a place of considerable resort, and 
must be very pleasant through the leisure weeks of 
summer. It has large hotels, but we declined the 
polite offers of the liveried suitors, and walked 
quietly to an attractive little house called the " Ar- 
gyle." A neat Scotch landlady stood in the door 
and readily agreed to furnish all we desired in the 
way of bed and board. She kept her word. The 
pillows were hard and the fare was simple. But 
everything was neat, and there was a primitive 
method of management which was pleasing and in- 
expensive, two qualities which are seldom found 
in combination where tourists abound. Very quiet 
and restful were the streets of this village as we 
strolled through them at night. It was refreshing 
to be far away from the noise and bustle of the 
world we had left. But we were to keep moving. 



FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 39 

On Tuesday morning we left Oban in the Chev- 
alier^ and we landed at lona, or Icolmkill. It 
was famed in its day. There the Druids had their 
principal seat, but it is more than thirteen hundred 
years since the Pictish king gave it to St. Columba, 
whom his own people called Columbkille. It is a 
good place to recall the story of his life. He was an 
Irishman, born of the royal race of O'Donnell on his 
father's side, while his mother was a princess of Lein- 
ster. He was trained and ordained in the Church of 
Rome, and became one of its most zealous sons. 
Using his wealth and his influence, before he was 
twenty-five years old he had founded thirty-seven 
monasteries in Ireland. We are getting back into 
the grandeur of the island we have just left, as we 
think upon such works. At length, trouble found 
the good man, as it is apt to do, and he was involved 
in a suit concerning a choice manuscript of the Psalterc, 
and the king decided against him. The king's men 
put to death a prince of Connaught, who had sought 
asylum in the saint's monastery, whereupon in revenge 
Columba led his kinsfolk against the king and de- 
feated him. Then followed excommunication and a 
final expulsion from the island of his birth. With 
twelve companions who were monks, he went to lona, 
and ministered to the wants of the people there and 
in the region round about. Prince Connal, to whom 
the island belonged, gave it to Columba, who devoted 
himself heartily to his Christian work, so that 
churches and monasteries multiplied. Thus early 
did lona become the flourishing seat of Christianity. 
When the Scotch Parliament abolished religious 



40 SOME THINGS ABROAD r 

houses, in 1560, that established at Tona fell with the 
rest. The island came into the possession of the 
McLeans and then became the property of the Diike 
of Argyle. Its length is three miles and its breadth 
is a mile and a half. There are some three hundred 
people on the island, who rear black cattle on the 
land, and draw the fish from the sea, and thus, with 
the help of potatoes and barley, pick up an honest 
living. It is scarcely necessary to confess that I did 
not learn these historical and statistical facts on the 
spot, but have since gleaned them from books. I 
confess this the more confidently because a great 
New England philosopher and writer has said boldly, 
"Every book is a quotation; and every house is a 
quotation out of all forests and mines and stone- 
quarries ; and every man is a quotation from all his 
ancestors." Originality is hardly to be expected after 
that. 

We landed at lona in a large boat. "We saw little 
except the island with its moorland and hills, and 
the ruins which are the memorials of its better days. 
We went to the nunnery first, because it was nearest. 
It bears the name of Mary and dates from the twelfth 
century. There was at the gate the girl of the pres- 
ent century. On this occasion she was selling peb- 
bles, or, more correctly, offering pebbles for sale. 
Within we found sheep who were not of the orig- 
inal fold. They fled at the approach of a stranger, 
for they knew him not. If the women we saw were 
nuns, or had any special character, they wore only 
an every-day look. Then to the Cathedral, which is 
also St. Mary's but is in desolation, both spiritual 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 41 

and material, and has fallen from a house of prayer 
to a house of merchandise. The boy was there. The 
photographs were with the boy, where most of them 
remained. The old Cathedral is an impressive ruin, 
w^th its large square tower, some seventy-five feet 
high, and the walls, Avhich are nearly complete, and 
the wealth of traditions and memories. Outside 
stands the famous lona cross, the oldest of the four 
which now remain of the three hundred and sixty 
stone crosses which were erected on the island. Not 
very far away is the McLean cross. We saw also 
St. Oran's Chapel, which is older than the Cathedral, 
and that of St. Mary, which is nearer the shore. 

We should have been glad to linger at lona, to go 
into the cottages which stand in a long row looking 
towards the sea, to talk with the simple island folk 
and gather up the stories of departed times, and to 
bring again to the sacred houses those who once filled 
them with song and prayer and many a saintly deed. 
But we turned away. We left behind us the grave 
of Columba. It is known to be his grave, because 
when it was opened his bones were not found in it. 
This may seem an Irish method of reasoning. It is 
not quite so illogical as it appears. For, by the tra- 
dition, the bones of the saint were taken to Ireland. 
So there was good reason for believing that they 
would not be found in lona. And thev were not. 

We left also the graves of kings of Scotland and 
Ireland and Norway, and of holy abbots and High- 
land chieftains. The island was a famous place for 
the repose of the great. They liked to lie down 
under its sacred sod. There was, too, an ancient 



42 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

prophecy that when the second deluge should come, 
seven years before the end of the world, and all the 
nations should be submerged, the island of Columba 
would float securely over the waste of water. It is 
not strange that kings took possession of the added 
years, though they were far distant. Yet how little 
it really mattered where the royal dust returned to 
dust, or where the coming deluge left the ashes which 
had been dethroned. Not for this reason was lona 
made the last resting-place of sixteen American sail- 
ors over whose graves rises the granite monument 
which our government has set to mark the haven 
into which they passed through storm and shipwreck. 
King or sailor, it is a peaceful spot to find when the 
reign is over and the voyage is done. 

lona and its conspicuous Cathedral afforded very 
pleasing sights as we steamed towards Staffa, where 
we landed in a large boat. There was no difficulty 
in recognizing the island as we approached it, for 
the school-book pictures had given us an idea of it. 
The tall columns of rock mark the place beyond mis- 
take. When the wind and water permit, small 
boats make their way into Fingal's Cave, which is 
the chief place of interest. This was not one of the 
days when such permission is given. We landed at 
Clam-Shell Cave, which was entered by some of the 
company. We all made our way laboriously over 
the irregular tops of the massive pillars to the cave 
which is called after the old hero of Gaelic poetry. 
Fion na Gael, or Fingal, furnished the name for 
Ossian's epic of six books, and also for this great 
grotto. He was of royal blood, the son of Comhal, 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 43 

who was the son of the Kmg of Morven, and Morna. 
He married the daughter of Cornac I., the third 
King of Ireland, and Ossian was their son and the 
successor to the throne of Morven. All this is in 
the books, but not in the rocks. It may be well to 
take from the books also a few dimensions. Unfor- 
tunately the books do not agree. But the cave is 
two hundred and twelve or two hundred and twenty- 
seven feet long, and its width at the entrance is 
thirty-three or forty-two feet. It is sixty feet high, 
and the water is about twenty feet deep on the floor. 
Immense ranges of columns support the high arch 
which forms the roof, and stalactites of many tints 
hang between tlie lofty pillars, which dash back the 
rushing, foaming waves that are thrown upon them. 
We found a wire railing which guided and protected 
"US as we advanced in the cave towards the dark. It 
was a sombre and iwvful place to be in. Not long 
after we were there, several persons were washed 
from the ledge where we walked by the fierce incom- 
ing of the sea, the treacherous and resistless sea. 
The construction of Staffa suggests the Giant's 
Causeway. But there is more variety there, and 
the pillars are more regular, though some in Staffa 
are larger than any we saw in Ireland. We as- 
cended a long wooden stairway, and climbed to the 
top of a hill from which there is an extended view. 
Our stay was too short because the day was so short. 
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Staffa is 
that nothing is there offered for sale ; not a photo- 
graph, not a piece of wood or a fragment of rock. 
I doubt if there is another place of interest in the 



44 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

United Kingdom of which this can be said, or a 
place of equal size where no beggar puts in an ap- 
pearance. I do not find these facts mentioned in 
any books to which I have access, and I am gratified 
that I can bring them to the attention of travellers. 
Columns of rock may be seen elsewhere. We had a 
glimpse of a set of pillars on one of the islands 
which we passed. I read not long since that similar 
columns have been found on one of the Pacific 
Islands. But they are so rare that they are worthy 
of a visit wherever they are to be seen. It was a 
rich day's excursion which ended in the Bay of 
Oban. Yet much of the day had been cold and 
windy and cloudy, yielding at last to the sunshine. 
The scenery which we saw was equal to any in these 
parts, but it would be much more convenient if the 
weather would cooperate with it in the interest of 
strangers. The air was mild on the land. The 
linen sheets on the beds were a trifle too cool, but 
we had an abundance of blankets. Our little hotel 
was very comfortable in all respects. I am con- 
strained to mention the rarity of attractive faces 
here at the North. The common people have a hard 
look, as if the shadows of their mountains rested on 
them. There are signs of poverty, though these are 
not numerous where we have been. We took on 
board the steamer that day a wretched-looking man 
and woman with their bare-legged children. They 
drew out our sympathy, perhaps further than was 
necessary ; for they were all on the forward deck at 
once, the woman with a pipe in her mouth, and a 
baby in a shawl hanging on her back, Indian fashion. 



FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 45 

Life seemed to have no perplexities for her or hers. 
After a time the man took the pipe, which seemed 
to be a family luxury. Whether it descended to the 
brood, to whom comfort would not have been amiss, 
I did not see. The burden and the back often get 
fitted together as the years roll on. 

We left Oban very early on Wednesday morning. 
The "boots " of the " Argyle," who acted also as clerk 
on this occasion, had some difficulty in making up 
his accounts for us, and would certainly have de- 
frauded the worthy woman whom he represented if 
our arithmetic had not been more accurate than his. 
But he was a novice and v\^e were not. The steamer 
Mountaineer took us to Banavie, where we were 
transferred to the Glengarry^ which was better 
adapted to the journey before us, and in this we 
entered the Caledonian Canal. From Banavie there 
is a good view of- Ben Nevis, the highest of the 
Scotch mountains. An ungracious cloud did all it 
could to liide the mountain from our view. The 
canal is more than its name denotes. It is sixty 
miles long, reaching from the Atlantic to the Ger- 
man Ocean, from the Firth of Lorn to Moray Firth, 
thus running across the county of Inverness and 
dividing the island. In more than half its length it 
makes use of lochs and rivers, Avhich are joined by 
the artificial stream. The water is seventeen feet 
deep, and the canal is wide enough for large steam- 
boats. The day was cold in the first part, with 
occasional showers, and grew milder as it went on. 

But no weather could destroy this romantic jour- 
ney, from loch to loch, among mountains and hills, 



46 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

past castles which were laden with story. There 
was Tor Castle, where the Camerons ruled in the old 
days; and Invergarry, where the "Lord of the Isles" 
mustered the clans which followed him. We hadu 
bought the poem at Oban and were able to read it 
among the scenes which it describes. By falling in 
ruins the castles have preserved themselves from the 
hand of improvement, and have thus retained some- 
thing of the character which was their strength, and 
now constitutes their attractiveness. Between Loch 
Oich and Loch Ness is a series of seven lochs, ex- 
tending through two miles and taking an hour and a 
half of time. Many persons prefer to walk while 
the steamer is slowly making her way down the hill 
to Fort Augustus. At Loch Lomond we were be- 
guiled from the stage into the ascent of a muddy 
mountain, under the flimsy pretence that our little 
walk would relieve the horses. No such inducement 
of mercy was held out to us at the lochs, and the 
walk was not only voluntary but agreeable. We 
were not left to ourselves. Women and girls who 
were native to both manor and manner attended us, 
carrying milk, the visible and staple refreshment o\ 
the region. They received but small pecuniary en- 
couragement. Probably this was not entirely a dis- 
advantage to them. For it is to be presumed that 
the less they sold, the more they had for their own 
evening repast. 

At the Pier of Foyers we were allowed time to 
visit the fall of that name, which is sometimes 
changed into the " Fall of Smoke." It was a tire- 
some walk, over a steep and rough path. I do not 



FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 47 

think we should have been repaid if the walk had 
been a thousand miles, to take Wilson's estimate, but 
there was compensation for the walk which we did 
take. A leap of a hundred feet is not very much for 
a stream in a land of mountains. But the surround- 
ings here were picturesque, with their grandeur and 
beauty, their roughness and grace, while the waters 
plunged from sparkling sunlight into the shadows 
below. 

We may properly here recall the lines which Burns 
wrote with a pencil as he stood by the Fall of Foyers, 
the lines beginning : — 

" Among the heathy hills and ragged woods 
The roaring Fyers pours his mossy floods." 

Our day's journey ended at Inverness, "the capital 
of the Highlands," where we took up our quarters at 
the Imperial Hotel. The old name of the town had 
a more metaphysical look than the present one. It 
was Innerness. The River Ness runs through the 
town. It is a very old place, and once had a castle 
near by, in which it is thought Duncan met his 
death at the hands of Macbeth. There was a later 
castle, in which, in the times of James I., Parliament 
was once held. In 1746 that castle came to an un- 
timely end, and now the court-house and county 
buildings occupy the site. Three miles away is Cul- 
loden. The town has a flourishing trade by means 
of the canal, and its imports and exports run into 
large figures. We strolled through the streets for a 
little time, and looked into the shop windows, which 
were well supplied with goods. We ventured into 



48 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

the open door of the Town Hall, a large stone build- 
ing, with a fine hall for public meetings. The coats- 
of-arms of the Scottish clans were in the windows. 

The next morning we left Inverness, and found 
that we were ticketed to Edinburgh by a very long 
way. But this enabled us to have an hour in Aber- 
deen, which we improved by a stroll, and a survey 
of the very fine new market-house which was abun- 
dantly furnished with good things. It was a weary 
day's ride, and we were glad at night to enter our 
names at the Royal Hotel in Edinburgh. 

Edinburgh is so often visited, and has been so fully 
described, that I need not give much space, to the 
brief time which we spent there. We saw what 
everybody sees, and what T had seen before. Yet 
these places were worth far more than we could give 
to them, and their relics are their own. We went to 
the castle, and looked from the high, peopled walls 
down upon the city. We saw the old regalia, and 
we went into Queen Mary's room and Queen Mar- 
garet's Chapel ; and expressed the usual wonder at 
the size of Mons Meg. We went to Holyrood palace 
and abbey, wandered among the pictures, and through 
the rooms, told again the sad story of Mary, and saw 
where Rizzio's blood had stained the floor. The 
ancient tapestries, the antiquated royal bed, the fur- 
niture of other days, the little trifles and treasures 
which association has made valuable, all these we 
saw and talked about. What a wonderful place it is! 
And how the heart warms up to Scotch story and the 
things which have had a place in it ! The broken walls 
of the Chapel Royal show what a fine structure it 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 49 

must have been in its glory. Why could not these 
wonders of architecture have lasted to our day? 
We v^ent to St. Giles', where we were admitted for 
three-pence each. I remonstrated with the ticket- 
seller on the impropriety of asking a fee for admis- 
sion to a church. But my words made no impression. 
He took the money just the same. I presume that 
was the whole of his office. This is the old parish 
church, with restorations. They were still restoring 
or decorating when we were admitted. 

We drove through the old city, through its narrow 
and dark streets, peered into its dismal closes, looked 
at the dingy buildings, watched the human life which 
in its poverty and dirt swarmed into the streets, 
marked the attempts at cleanliness as they hung from 
the poles which projected from every story of the tall 
houses, and thought on the days which are no more, 
and tiie events of which these crowded thoroughfares 
and antique buildings were the scene. 

A sixpence from each of us gave the right of 
entrance to the house of John Knox. We saw the 
rooms which he occupied, and the study in which 
he wrought great works. It was made plain that 
the size of the room has little to do with the quan- 
tity of the study or of the learning which results 
from it. We looked from the window of this small 
room, from which he preached to the multitude on 
the streets below him. A chair is the only thing 
now in the house which confesses him as its owner. 

It was a fine drive which we had on Arthur's seat, 
where the "Queen's drive" is the public road. The 
monuments had their share of attention, Nelson's, 



50 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Burns\ and chiefly the magnificent pile of stone 
which commemorates the name of the man who has 
added even to the renown of Scotland, and has done 
more than any one besides to preserve the song and 
legend of its ancient life, and to make a journey 
under his guidance rich in such pleasure as he alone 
could impart. 

It is a delightful afternoon excursion from the 
great city to quiet Hawthornden and Roslin Chapel 
and Castle. The chapel is beautiful beyond any 
power of words. It is a gem of architecture. The 
Gothic period has left nothing more elegant. It is 
four hundred years old, and more. For only a shil- 
ling one can cross its antique threshold and listen to 
the recitation of its wonders by a man who probably 
knows little of them beyond the piece which he 
speaks. He is an encumbrance; but he will go on 
and on, though life is short. It would be hopeless to 
attempt to escape from him, or to look for a few 
leisure moments after his declamation. It will then 
be time to leave. But as his story spins itself out, 
the eye wanders through the church, examines its 
exquisite tracery in stone, admires the columns and 
arches^ takes in the whole symmetry and grace, 
while once again the story of the twisted pillar is 
told and heard. Who has not heard it? Of the 
master who vainly tried to create the column, and 
who went to Rome to learn the art ; of the appren- 
tice who wrought out the marvel in his master's 
absence, and paid for his cunning by his death when 
the envious master returned? A legend? Yes; 
but the pillar is there. It might all have happened. 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 51 

Read it as legend or parable, and it has happened 
scores of times. We turned from the chapel to 
Roslin Castle, or to what remains of it, hanging 
over the river. It was cheaper than going to 
church, for the proprietor demanded only a sixpence 
of each visitor. An amiable guide represented the 
proprietor, and escorted us through the dungeons, 
which are nearly all that is left. The fact which he 
labored most to impress upon us Avas that he had 
the lumbago in his back. This was not particularly 
valuable as an item of history, but it had a certain 
local interest, and was a specious appeal to our sym- 
pathy. He did partial service, and on account 
of his malady excused himself from more. But he 
had enough strength to take the shilling which we 
felt obliged to add to the legitimate entrance fee. 
After all, the dungeons were no better than the 
church, even in a monetary view. 

We followed a footpath along the Esk, through a 
romantic glen, and crossed the river on a small 
bridge. A lonely guardian of the bridge demanded 
from each a shilling toll. We remarked upon the 
excessive charge. He admitted that it was rather 
hard on us, but declared that it was not his fault. 
On this walk we explored the cave where Bruce is 
said to have taken refuge. We saw his sword, so 
called, and John Knox's desk. A woman was in 
charge of the place and its treasures. I fancy that 
she expected a shilling in return for her courtesy; 
but she made no sign to that effect, and we did not 
run the risk of offending her by offering to pay for 
what had been pleasantly rendered. We thought, 



62 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

too, that the landed proprietors had made enough out 
of us for one afternoon. At Hawthornden we waited 
for a train and were returned safely to Edinburgh. 

Saturday afternoon we came down to Melrose and 
found a most comfortable home at the Abbey Hotel, 
hard by the abbey. I found that the house had 
been enlarged since I was last in it, which was a 
token of prosperity. Its situation is perfect, and all 
its arrangements are excellent. We had the house 
almost to ourselves, and the quiet was very restful. 
It was delightful to be so near the abbey; to have 
the ruins before our windows, where we could look 
upon them as the day glided into the evening and 
the shadows of night crept over the walls, and to 
hear the ancient bell ring out the hours of da}^ and 
night. There were none to answer, but the bell 
maintained the fidelity of its more useful years. 
"Melrose Abbey (admission, 6d.) was founded in 
1136, but was destroyed in 1322," — so runs the 
book. Not long after the walls were reared of the 
house which now stands desolate. It was one of 
the finest of the class of fine houses to which it 
belonged. The stone was hard enough to preserve 
some of the carving which embellishes it. The 
graves of kings and other mighty men are yet to be 
seen, and the place where tradition says the heart 
of Robert Bruce was laid when it had ceased to beat 
with love for his country and his people. It was a 
good place for the last slumber, and as safe as 
Icolmkill. The waves of time have alreadj^ swept 
over island and abbey, but the sleepers have not 
been wakened. 



FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 53 

Melrose is a very attractive place. The old 
monks liked a fair, well watered country about their 
houses, and they had it here. The abbey was 
worthy of the place which they selected for it. 
Even in its despoiled estate it is majestic and beau- 
tiful, with its massive pillars and lofty arches, the 
delicate tracery of its capitals, where constructive and 
inventive skill labored to one end, and the graceful 
and grotesque figures which look down from the 
walls, and the empty framework of its great win- 
dows. The venturesome boy, with an instinctive 
desire to stand in high places, wished to go up to 
the gallery where of old the monks walked, and from 
which they looked down into the sacred courts. 
But visitors were not allowed there. Perhaps the 
regulation is wise ; it certainly can be made remu- 
nerative. I had a friendly chat with the motherly 
dame who was in charge of the abbey, and she repre- 
sented to me the perils of the high promenade. She 
said her son had forbidden her to go there; but I 
so far ingratiated myself that she finally said the 
boy miglit go if the woman who serves as guide 
would attend him. The woman was more than will- 
ing. She knew there was reason for yielding a 
cheerful consent. So the youth passed along the 
dusty path once trodden by feet which long ago 
rested from their wandering and turned to dust in 
the field beside the house they loved and served. It 
is an interesting old burial-place where they are 
lying with many of later days. 

How much charm there is in the very name of 
Melrose ! What house awakens more tender recol- 



54 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

lections! For this we are doubtless indebted in good 
measure to him who chose his home on the banks 
of the Tweed. But the house and its history have 
their own choice interest for us. The house has its 
heroic annals : — 

^^For Branksome's Chiefs had in hattle stood 
To fence the rights of fair Mehose : 
And lands and Uvings, many a rood, 
Had gifted the shrine for their souls' repose." 

But who shall tell the tales of love and devotion, of 
gentle charity and gracious ministry, of hope and 
desire, and holy communion even with those who 
had gone up into the excellent glory? So many of 
the best things never get written ! The bones of 
Michael Scott and the heart of Bruce may not be 
there. Alexander and the Douglases may not be 
found. The saints have left their niches empty. But 
the lives remain, and it is not very hard to bring 
back the men who once had here their home, and re. 
ceived those who came for rest in life, or for the rest 
which follows after. 

" More meet it were to mark the day 
Of penitence and prayer divine, 
When pilgrim-chiefs, in sad array, 
Sought Melrose' holy shrine." 

We looked upon the scene ''so sad and fair" when 

**The gay beams of hghtsome day 
Gild, but to flout, the ruins gray," — 

and when 

** The broken arches are black in night, 
And each shafted oriel glimmers white; 
When the cold light's uncertain shower 
Streams on the ruin'd central tower ; 



FBOM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 65 

When buttress and buttress, alternately, 

Seemed framed of ebon and ivory ; 

Wlien silver edges the imagery, 

And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die." 

You who read this may think there was no need of 
copying lines so familiar. If j^ou do think so, will 
you try to write of Melrose, and leave them out ? 

But when one indulges his imagination by moon- 
light, he must be prepared for the disillusion. I 
looked from my window at night down among the 
graves, and saw the figure of a young woman in the 
arms of her lover. Not far off was the stately figure 
of her mistress, as I conjectured. She was very 
prim, and her skirts were scant and straight as they 
fell to her feet. As she was watching, and I feared 
with no good intent, I felt at liberty to share her 
vigil. My sympathy was with them as against her. 
Of the little group no one moved. The spell which 
was upon the abbey and the graves seemed to have 
fallen upon them all. At length I was forced to sus- 
pect that there was a lack of reality in the vision. 
The morning showed that it was even so, and that 
my fancy had been playing with the monuments. 
Well, it might have been true. In that field, or 
some other of the fields, it has been true. 

It was a fine place for the Sabbath. What could 
be better ? It was a pleasant walk to the churches. 
I selected the Church of Scotland as best adapted 
to my condition. Could one choose any other, being 
there ? The building had an old look, though it has 
not closed its first century. The watchful bird upon 
the spire looked aged and weary. Indeed, I have 



66 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

seen no one of these sentinels in the United Kingdom 
who could be compared with the dignified, vigorous 
bird who so long presided over Boston streets and 
Boston harbor, and now looks down upon the Cam- 
bridge parsonage. The pews were unpainted, and 
liad very high and straight backs, with very narrow 
seats, whose severity was not relieved by cushions. 
I was given a place near the high pulpit. The pulpit 
and the gallery were of oak, so far as the genius of 
the local painter could transform pine into oak, and, 
to the same degree, the supporting pillars were of ele- 
gant marble. Decorative art could not have gone 
much further, at least in that direction. After a time 
the sexton, if that was his title, made his appearance 
with the Bible and hymn-book, which he placed in the 
pulj)it. He descended and the minister came in, a short 
man with a long beard. He marched down the broad 
aisle, holdiug up his gown as if he was passing through 
deep water. When he was fairly in his place, the 
sexton, if he was the sexton, mounted the stairs again 
and closed the door. Pie had the preacher safe till 
he chose to let him out. All the ceremonj^ was 
amusing to a foreigner, but not without impressive- 
ness. Yet when I try to imagine all this done by 
the sexton and minister with whom I am most con- 
cerned, I can never make it work well. I fear they 
would not fit into these arrangements gracefully. 
But they might come to it. The manner of the 
preacher was dignified and serious. " Let us solem- 
nize our minds by singing the eighty-ninth Psalm, 
beginning with the fifteenth verse." Then a man in 
a black gown stood at the end of the broad aisle and 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE. 57 

raised the Psalm. There were a dozen boys in 
front who appeared to be the assistants of the 
leader. There was no organ, but the singing was 
hearty and good. I shall not report the sermon. 
"All things work together for good," was the text, 
with the rest of that helpful verse. If the good 
man had stopped with the words of the apostle, he 
would have done well. But he proceeded to show 
how much of the spirit and life of a grand sentence 
he could take away in thirty or forty minutes. No 
man could fail to say good things on such a theme. 
But he dwelt so carefully on the latter part of the 
verse that there was small comfort left in the former 
part. I could not avoid the feeling that the man of 
Tarsus and Damascus wrote larger and better things 
than the man in Melrose described in his name. 
The people did not listen as if the increasing words 
had added much meajiing to their own first thought, 
though now and then the girl who sat next me 
brushed a tear from her eyes. I fancied it was more 
for some memory of her own than for the sentences 
that fell upon her ear. At the close of the service 
I asked her if this was the stated preacher there, 
and she answered with a pleasant smile and the be- 
witching Scotch accent, " No ; it is a strange minis- 
ter." 

I am coming to feel that to preach is more diffi- 
cult than I have supposed. The preacher's message 
is so great in itself, so noble in its tone, so gracious 
in its spirit, that it is hard when a man has spoken 
it to speak about it. I wonder if it would be better 
to start with ourselves; with the human thought 



68 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

and want and longing and experience, and work our 
way up to the mount where we may hear the voice 
which comes to every man according as he has need. 
When one wants the word he waits for it, and listens 
while it is speaking to him. I am more and more 
persuaded of one thing, that preachers ought to let 
God's word to the soul have its full meaning and force 
and speak for itself. When we keep close to him 
whose messengers we are, and speak as we are bidden, 
we shall have more authority, and therefore more in- 
fluence. 

** Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, 
*' Who is this that darkeneth counsel by w^ords without knowl- 
edge ? " 

All this is a soliloquy and not a criticism. It is ad- 
dressed to only one man, and I hope he will profit 
by it. 

Monday was given up to that to which the day 
belonged. Its occupation was easily determined. 
We had a delightful drive to Abbotsford. It was 
not merely the residence of Sir Walter, but his home, 
the house and home of his own making. Castles 
and abbeys furnished stones for it, and the history 
of the Highlands was enshrined in and within its 
walls. I doubt if there is another house in the 
world where so many people would feel at home. 
The form of it is known to everybody. Who does 
not know the ample hospitality which dwelt in it? 
Who has not sung the songs and read the tales 
which issued from its heart ? Who has not roamed 
through its garden with the master and his com- 



FROM BELFAST TO NEWCASTLE, 59 

paiiions? We were fortunate in the time of our 
visit, as we had the genial cicerone to ourselves and 
he seemed in no desire to hurry us. So we lingered 
in the rooms, among the arms and the books, and 
the gathered relics of many days, and the abounding 
memories which were more than recollections. 

The drive lost none of its charm when we turned 
towards Dryburgh. We had to leave the carriage at 
some distance from the Abbey, and to cross the 
bridge on foot. Tlien we walked on till we stood 
among the remains of magnificence, and communed 
again with vanished glory. Melrose and Dryburgh 
were founded in the same century, and were both 
destroyed by Edward II. Dryburgh had two centu- 
ries more of life, but at length fell again and has 
found no one to restore it. We could easily erect 
the walls and divide them as of old ; and there was 
enough of the former work to serve as a pattern for 
the restoration. But the chief attraction of the place 
is in St. Mary's aisle, where, in a broken corner of 
the ancient pile, with that of his wife and son, and 
of Lockhart, is the tomb of Walter Scott. An iron 
gate shuts out the visitor, but he can stand near and 
easily read the modest inscription. A better memo- 
rial are his own words, which are in all the world. 
What a life it was ; industrious, incorruptible, patient, 
courageous, simple, and gentle, full of friendliness, 
rich in love of his country — doubly his — and of all 
which ever belonged to it ! He illuminated the land, 
opened its secret treasuries, told its tales, and taught 
others to sing its melodies, until, more than any other, 
he has given Scotland its place in the hearts of men. 



60 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

This is remembrance worth having, when it comes 
unsought, when it has to come, when a man compels 
it by virtue of his manhood and manliness. It may 
be long a-coming, but such a career and name as his 
make us trust that the day will dawn when it shall 
be seen that not before thrones or titles or estates 
is the truest and most loyal homage paid, but before 
men and manhood. I cannot feel that the place for 
his grave was well chosen. Why should he lie in 
the past who inhabits the present, and whose name 
is the most common one and the most honored one 
in his land ? Should he not lie in his own home, or 
on some hill-side over which his Highlanders wan- 
dered, or by some lake whose waters he brightened and 
widened, rather than with the dead, in the midst of a 
ruin, among the grim and broken stones of a fallen 
house to which he never belonged? So I thought 
when I stood by the grave. I wished that he was in 
the sunlight, where the minstrel's song might seem 
still to charm him, and he could "feel the daisies 
growing over him." But even that would be his 
grave, and he is not dead. 

We drove back through Newstead and took a last, 
long look at Melrose. 

*' Was never scene so sad and fair ! " 

In the afternoon we moved on, bidding farewell 
to Scotland. At ten o'clock we were at Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne. 



CHAPTER III. 

FROM NEWCASTLE THKOUGH NORWAY. 

Newcastle once held the new castle which was 
begun by Robert, the eldest son of the Conqueror, 
in 1079 or 1080, and finished by his brother, William 
Rufus, and had an important part in the wars of 
that period. A hundred years later Henry II* 
erected the castle of which the Edwards made much 
use when they led their armies into Scotland. The 
castle has been restored, and is a fine representation 
of the military architecture of the Normans. But 
the town reaches into an earlier time, when the 
Romans had a camp there, which they called Pons 
^lii, which was one of the forts which defended 
the wall of Hadrian. The deserted camp of the 
Romans was taken up by a colony of monks, and 
the town thus acquired the name of Monkchester. 
Not for these things, but for its vigorous modern 
industries is it famed now. It stretches for two 
miles along the river, which furnishes a natural dock 
for the shipping. Artificial docks have been added 
to this for the accommodation of the multitude of 
vessels. Ship-building is carried on upon a very 
large scale, and we found the river studded with 
iron ships in the process of construction. A familiar 
saying reminds us that Newcastle has coals enough. 

61 



62 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Indeed, its extensive trade consists largely in coal 
and in such things as coal helps to make. It is an 
ancient traffic, reaching back to the Henrys and 
Edwards. The railway system had its origin here, 
and here the Stephensons wrought upon locomotives 
and civilization. 

We drove about the town in a leisure hour, and 
had a passing view of. its fine streets, its large build- 
ings, and the signs of its earlier and latei^ life. The 
place deserved — what place did not — a longer time 
than we could give to it. 

At one o'clock on the afternoon of Tuesday, 
July 31, we left the pier at Newcastle on the tender 
which was to take us to the steamer at the mouth 
of the river. The name of the tender was Provi- 
dence^ which had a pleasant suggestiveness. It was 
an interesting sail down the Tyne, between the ship- 
yards and the factories. Where the river widens 
into the sea we passed through the " graveyard," 
and looked with a sense of pity at the old ships 
which have ''outlived their usefulness," and are now 
abandoned together there for the elements to break 
them up. We found the Norge waiting for xis. Slie 
belonged to a new line of ships running between 
England and Norway, and promised more comfort 
than the ships whose English port is at Hull. The 
new line fulfilled its promise, and it is much to be 
regretted that it has been discontinued. 

We wei'e allowed for this northern journey to 
join two of our countrymen whose plans were like 
our own. With one of them we had crossed the 
ocean and rambled about Killarney. I think they 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NORWAY. 63 

will allow me the pleasure of mentioning their 
names, for they were the most genial companions, 
and greatly enlarged the interest and happiness of 
the weeks which we spent with them. They were 
the Eev. Dr. Williams of Baltimore, and Mr. L. M. 
Blackford, the master of a noted school for boys 
near Alexandria, Va. There were but few other 
passengers on the steamer, and conspicuous among 
them was a learned and courteous canon of the Eng- 
lish Church, with whom we kept company for some 
time in Norway. There was but one lady among 
the passengers. The North Sea, which is capricious, 
and at times most violent, was very quiet during our 
voyage, so that we could enjoy it to the full. The 
staterooms were small but comfortable. There were 
so few of them that our two friends were put into 
the smoking-room, which was not in all respects 
comfortable. They <?ould not have it till the smok- 
ers had gone from it, leaving the lingering fragrance 
of their presence. There was no key in our door, 
and a watch-case hung over each berth. It was clear 
that we were among honest folk. The table was 
good, and was abundantly furnished with cheese, 
which we found to be a staple article on sea and 
land. We had at least four kinds, so that we could 
give to our meals something of an experimental and 
comparative character. One kind, which resembled 
an obelisk in shape and color, and gained that name, 
seemed to be the main reliance. The service was 
rather primitive, but generous and good-natured. 
It was not without difficulty that we managed to 
make return for the extras, which we enjoyed with- 



64 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

out knowing that they were extras, so that memory 
and imagination were taxed to sustain our integrity 
and the ship's finances. When we had conscien- 
tiously given in our personal statements, there came 
the added difficulty of paying for what we had 
received in a currency of which we were ignorant, 
and to men who were ignorant of our language. 
But I fancy that they w^ere reimbursed, as they 
deserved to be ; for all of the men and maidens of 
the ship, from the captain to the table-girls, were 
eager to minister to our comfort. 

In forty-four hours from the time of our starting 
we were in the harbor of Bergen, on the south-west 
coast of Norway. The approach was very pleasing. 
The coast-line was not unlike that of Ireland, al- 
though the hills were more rocky and barren. Ber- 
gen has a picturesque look, with the red roofs of its 
houses, which are mostly clustered at the base of a 
high hill, and on a sort of promontory stretching 
into the fjord. The people count seven hills back 
of the town, and a stranger in the land can readily 
count four. He has a suspicion that the balance 
must have a classical rather than a natural exist- 
ence. The steamer stopped in the harbor, and boats 
at once came around to take us to the quay. We 
were landed in a fish market, though the market 
itself was chiefly in boats which were massed to- 
gether and formed tlie scene of a busy traffic, carried 
on by both men and women. Besides fish, we saw 
potatoes, pottery, cheese, and other commodities. 
The women were bareheaded, or wore a peculiar 
peaked cap. Some of the men and boys had wooden 



FR03I NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 65 

shoes. We found no carriage or van to take us and 
our belongings to a hotel. But there were porters 
for the baggage, which was loaded on the back of 
an old man to an incredible degree. We moved in 
procession behind him, and soon found ourselves at 
Holdt's, which is one of the several hotels of the 
town. The porter shook hands with us when his 
duties were over, and went his wav. We found 
then, and afterward, that politeness is a strong point 
among these people. The house was crowded by 
the time we reached it. The register was kept on a 
blackboard fastened to the wall, and there the enter- 
prise of Dr. Williams had placed our names against 
vacant numbers. We were thus well provided for, 
and we found the house very comfortable. 

Our introduction to Norway was most fortunate. 
We had been commended to the consul of the United 
States at Bergen and to another gentlemen of prom- 
inence in the country. They were both members of 
the Storthing, or national Parliament, and were able 
to give us much trustworty information in regard to 
public affairs, as well as those of more local interest. 
Nothing could have exceeded their attention, and no 
men could have made kindness more serviceable. 

Bergen is one of the oldest of the towns of Nor- 
way. It has some thirty-four thousand inhabitants. 
The climate is mild and damp. Bergen has been 
called ''the fatherland of drizzle," but the weather 
was good while we were there. It had been an ex- 
ceptionally dry season. The town has suffered much 
from fires. But these have opened the way for plac- 
ing modern buildings among those of more antique 



66 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

design. The people are said to be more social and 
vivacious than in other parts of the country, and 
their holidays are merry ones. But they are indus- 
trious and frugal ; a very pleasant people to live 
with. The language is very musical. There is a 
peculiar inflection at the end of a sentence which 
makes speech almost like a song. It is a delight to 
listen to it when it is spoken by a refined, musical 
voice. 

The consul took us out to a fine country house 
which he was building. It was a charming drive. 
We found that the construction of the house was 
very substantial. The timbers were heavy and were 
well set together. No plaster was on the walls, but 
above the wainscot they were covered with brown 
linen. This could be covered with paper, if one 
chose to have it so. But as it was, it was much 
more pleasing to the eye than bare white walls would 
have been. Many of the houses are fine structures. 
The town house of the consul was so much admired 
by an English traveller that he procured a copy of 
the plans, and had the house reproduced in England. 

Bergen is a town of a considerable trade. The 
leading article is fish. The northern fishermen make 
this their market, which is the largest in Norway. 
There are also yards for shipbuilding, and steamers 
and vessels of many kinds frequent the port. We 
made some small purchases, but found that we could 
do this more easily under the guidance of one of our 
friends. The language offered some obstruction, 
and it was not so easy as it might seem to make our- 
selves understood, even with a vocabularj^ in our 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 67 

hand. I wanted a knife, and, coming upon a store 
where I thought I could obtain one, I boldl}'- repeated 
the Norwegian word ''kniv." The kind woman 
stared, but did nothing to gratify my desire. Yet I 
was sure of my word, for I had it in my book. Fail- 
ing in the department of words, I resorted to the 
sign language, and asked my boy to exhibit his cut- 
ting utensil. The woman was enlightened, and, re- 
peating my word, giving a peculiar click to the k^ 
she produced the knife. 

We went into the Exchange and saw the busy 
merchants of Bergen, who appeared very much like 
those in Boston. We went to one old house, rebuilt 
in the last century like an earlier one in which, 
in the time of the Hanseatic League, a merchant 
lived and did business. It was a very quaint build- 
ing. The staircase of the living-room was very steep 
and narrow; the bedrooms were extremely small. 
Yet once a stirring life was content to have its home 
in these contracted quarters. Now the house is a sort 
of museum, containing many objects of the period 
to which it belongs, and all curious and instructive. 
We visited the public museum, which is a fine build- 
ing, with collections of many things illustrating the 
natural history of the country, and many others 
which are connected with the methods and history 
of ^he people. There is a good library on the lower 
floor of the museum. But nothing interested us 
more than the grave of Ole Bull, to which we were 
taken by one of his old friends. It stands in a cen- 
tral spot in the cemetery, in a position of especial 
honor, and is a rectangular mound with ivy running 



68 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

over it. There were fresh flowers lying on it. The 
scene of the funeral of the great artist, whose home 
for so much of the time was in our own land, was 
described by his friend, and we thought we could 
imagine something of the intense interest of that 
day when all the people gathered to pay him sincere 
honor, and to mourn for one who had long carried 
them on his heart. We were told that a monument 
was to be erected to his memory in the towji. His 
name and his work will not be dependent upon 
stone, but will live in many hearts on both sides of 
the sea. 

On Saturday morning, the 4th of August, we 
left Bergen in the steamer Lyderhorn for a day on 
the Hardanger Fjord. The steamer was not large, 
but she was comfortable and well arranged for an 
inland voyage. It is a peculiarity of Norway, made 
evident by the map, that it is penetrated by fjords, 
arms of the sea, which reach far into the country 
among the mountains, and form broad highways for 
the traveller. It is of surpassing interest tlius to 
journey through the land. Our sail down the harbor 
was very interesting. Boats were gathering for the 
the market-day, laden with enterprise and expecta- 
tion, and more salable products. Women rowed in 
the boats with men and seemed quite as strong, and 
quite as well used to the work. Indeed, men and 
women seemed to share life along this coast, at least 
on business days. They had joined in producing, 
and came with a common interest to the disposing 
of their goods. We passed among islands of many 
shapes and sizes. We thought of Lyso, the island 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NOBWAY, 69 

which Ole Bull had loved from his boyhood, ^Yhe^e 
at length he made his home, among the tall pines 
which caught and repeated the melody of the wind 
which blew across its rocky shores. There in his 
double loyalty he would give our own flag to the 
breeze with that of the land of his birth. There he 
rested at the close, when his fingers lost their cun- 
ning and his heart grew still. From its seclusion he 
was borne to the grave amid the homage of rulers 
and people. We did not pass within sight of the 
island, but a Norwegian gentleman, at my request, 
pointed in the direction in which it lay. 

It is too early to be weary of the attempt to de- 
scribe wonderful scener3^ But the pen falters even 
now. We had seen nothing to equal that which was 
about us that day. Tiiere is more variety in the 
views on this fjord than is found on the others. 
The quiet waters lie between rough and steep moun- 
tains, where trees contend with rocks, and have a 
measure of success, while along the banks are grassy 
fields. The coast-line winds gracefully into bays 
which are the seats of hamlets nestling at the foot 
of the hills. Over hill and sea the light and shade 
play with continual change, making the whole scene 
both grand and delightful. It was a sunny day, but 
clouds were on the mountains, and the Folgefond, 
that mass of ice and snow, thirty-five or forty miles 
long, was covered from our sight. We knew it was 
there, for we saw it on the map, where it lies like a 
vast lake among the hills. 

The steamer stopped at various places along the 
way. Sometimes she went up to the pier, at other 



70 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

times only waited for a boat to come from the shore. 
These were all forlorn-looking settlements, with a 
few lone houses, and in the largest places perhaps a 
mill and a church. Life must have an even flow in 
such retreats. Once a cannon was fired for our 
entertainment, and the echoes had a striking, but 
familiar, sound. Echoes seem independent of na- 
tional tongues. We had the usual amusement in 
watching the passengers, who were of several 
classes, and were to a considerable degree possessed 
of the same purposes as ourselves. The eating 
arrangements of the steamer were not on a lavish 
scale, but the steward and his assistants did what 
they could, and were always patient and obliging. 
There was an unusual amount of consideration 
shown in assessing the fares. Persons travelling in 
a family had family rates, as I found at a later time. 
Our distinguished church dignitary was easily the 
most important personage on board, and he was 
always courteous, and ready to use his fund of 
knowledge for the common good. He had studied 
the language of the country for his own convenience, 
though the Norwegians seemed to get on quite as 
well when he used his mother-tongue. He seemed 
to have given some attention to our country, 
for he remarked while we were at Bergen that he 
had no doubt the English language was well spoken 
in Boston and the more settled parts of the country, 
but that it must be more rudely used in the wilder 
portions, as Cincinnati and Oregon. His repetition 
of that phrase indicated that it stood for all our 
wide West. Yet I have seldom met a man to whom 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY, 71 

it was so pleasant to listen in his familiar talk. I 
am confident that he adorns the high position which 
he holds, and he seems like one who has deserved 
even a loftier place. 

By slow degrees the day wore on and the dark- 
ness gathered. We all grew dull as we sailed down 
the Sorfjord. We even grew anxious. We knew 
that we were bound to a very small place. The 
guide-book was not encouraging. It told of Ole 
PrsBtsgaard's, near the pier, and Baard Aga's, two 
hundred paces off, and the Vetterhus. But we were 
a large company, and how could so many find quar- 
ters late on Saturday night ? It is to be confessed 
that we were more especially concerned for four of 
the company. Our excellent friends at Bergen had 
marked out our route through the country, adding 
their suggestions to the plan made for us before we 
left home ; and the consul had also telegraphed in 
our behalf to Mr. Baard Aga. We had expecta- 
tions. But who could tell whether a line over the 
wires would give us precedence among so many who 
had shown themselves equal to securing the best 
places on the steamer? It was about eleven o'clock 
when we drew up to the pier at Odde. It was dark. 
Many people were on the quay. But to which of 
them were we consigned? We called, '' Mr. Aga ! " 
and had no response. With increased emotion we 
again shouted '-'- Mr. Aga ! " He appeared at our 
cry, and we found that he had received the news of 
our coming, and that our rooms were in readiness. 
We followed him to his house, which was not an 
imposing building, although it was very attractive 



72 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 

at that time. We were received by a woman who 
could speak English, but could hardly be called pro- 
ficient in the accomplishment. She may have learned 
it in Cincinnati or Oregon. But she knew as if by 
instinct what we wanted. She fairly read our 
thoughts, late as the hour was, and dark as it was 
out-of-doors. It is an inestimable aid when travel- 
ling where there is no common tongue, that the 
pressing wants of men are very few, and can be 
quite accurately determined by the time wlien they 
present themselves. This woman knew that we 
wanted rooms and beds. She offered two rooms to 
our party of four. They were on the same floor, and 
opened out of the dining-room. The room assigned 
to my boy and myself was about eight feet square. 
The walls and ceiling were nicely painted. There 
were two beds, which were short, after the manner 
of the country. My own bed was apparently mod- 
elled after a bread-tray. The sides were some four 
inches liigh, and the floor of the bed was exactly my 
length. It was very comfortable, and difficult to 
roll out of. It was good for sleep, and for that pur- 
pose it was wanted. We had two pitchers and 
bowls for personal ablutions — one set on a wash- 
stand, and the other on a chair. Everything was 
wonderfully neat. We always found neatness in 
Norway. We proved the table in due time. It was 
excellent in the abundance and quality of that 
which it set before us. That was a matter of the 
next day. 

Sunday brought its disappointment, for we had 
expected to attend service in the village church. 



FBOM NEWCASTLE TIIllOUGII NOB WAY. 73 

But tliere was no service on that day. Only one 
Sunday in three is the minister in this vilhige of 
forty houses. We saw the humble house in w^hich 
he makes his home, and wished we could have seen 
him. I think there is a Sunday-school in the neigh- 
borhood, where some good man instructs the chil- 
dren who are sent to him. We should have been 
glad to have worshipped with these plain country 
folk in their Lutheran Church, and could have 
joined in the songs and prayers even though the 
language was strange. It would have been interest- 
ing to see the peasants as they came from their scat- 
tered homes in their gala costumes up to the house 
w^hich was a home for them all. But we w^ere left 
to ourselves. We went for a little time into the 
empty church, and sat in its silence and communed 
with our own hearts. We looked up to the hills 
and out upon the stream, and far above us saw a^ 
part of the Buarbrse, a portion of the Folgefond, all 
of which had been hidden on Saturday. A visit to 
the glacier makes an excursion of four or live hours. 
This includes the Gaarden Jordal, with its elms and 
birches, a garden shut in by a precipitous wall of 
rocks. Some of our fellow-visitors made the excur- 
sion. Some went fishing and came back with very 
creditable trout. We passed the day more quietly; 
but it was a pleasant pause between the weeks, and 
it was a fine place in which to have it come to us. 

It was very early on Monday morning when we 
returned to the steamer and resumed our voyage. 
We went from Odde up the fjord, turned into the 
Eidfjord, and landed at Vik. We made haste to the 



74 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

inn of the town, which was kept by the brothers 
N^sheim, and was reputed to be a more expensive 
stopping-place than some others ; yet nothing in the 
outward aspect of the building or in the furnishing 
of the rooms presented any sufficient reason for this. 
But we had not come to see the village, and there 
was little to see if that had been our design. Like 
many a large place, this derives its importance from 
the independent fact that it is near certain natural 
attractions. People stop at Vik in order to go fur- 
ther, as a tourist from Killarney might properly 
remark. We wished to see the Voringsfos, which 
ranks among the very best of the many fine water- 
falls of Norway. We made a very short tarry in 
the house, but one long enough to secure the ser- 
vices of a guide. He was not promising in appear- 
ance, but it seemed a good fortune that we found 
any one unemployed. We had learned that at Vik 
we should take a boat for the falls. We learned 
more when we were on the spot, for there was ^ 
walk of two English miles across the neck of land 
which lies between the fjord and the Oifjords- 
vand, — there is a real pleasure in writing these 
names from memory and Baedeker, — which is a lake 
fifty-four feet above the level of the sea, and bor- 
dered with high rocks which are adorned with 
waterfalls. The boatman lives at Gjellero, and when 
he is there may be addressed in shouts which will 
bring him to his boat in due course of time. When 
he was obtained, it became clear that the boat in 
which he proposed to ferry us across had absorbed 
too much of the lake. Bailing out was a slow pro- 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 75 

cess, but our time was not of much account. At 
last we embarked. It was a fine boat-ride, and it 
ended where we were to take horses — that is, a 
further walk of half a mile brought us to the place 
where it was fabled that there were horses. We 
made the walk in haste, as there were plainly more 
persons, in different boats, than there were likely to 
be horses. Our fears were not groundless. We 
thought our speed was considerable, but it was not 
immediately rewarded. One of the brothers had 
remarked that he did not know whether we should 
find horses or not. He was correct. We came to 
a small house w^ith a large sign, and there we 
halted. Other persons were doing the same thing, 
and apparently for the same reason. The sign was 
somewhat remarkable : it was rectangular, and in 
the lower right-hand corner was a small table, on 
which stood a bottle and tumbler. The bottle was 
very much higher than the table, which was about 
as Iiigh as the tumbler. On the top was the legend 

HERE APvE HORSES AND GUIDES 
AND GOOD LODGINGS. 

Of the lodgings I have nothing to say. We were 
then running up a bill at Vik. But there were no 
horses. A woman appeared, and to her we ad- 
dressed ourselves with some embarrassment. Her 
ideas on the subject of horses, or bests as she 
called them, were vague. From the humble, very 
humble, dwellings about the natives speedily ap- 
peared. No species seemed to be lacking. Men 
were in the mustering group and women ; boys 



76 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

were there and girls. The aged grandmother tot- 
tered out on her bare feet; the matron with her 
arms full of a baby and agricultural implements 
came squarely to the front. The freedom of the city 
was evidently at our disposal; but from the whis- 
pering of the natives one with another nothing 
came. They stood and they stared, but they pro- 
duced no bests. We partook of such refreshments 
as the unassuming hostlery offered ; but this brought 
us no nearer to the stream which was leaping over 
the remote cliffs. To us and to the other tourists 
there seemed to be an uncertainty attending the 
outcome of our expedition. Now and then a hest 
appeared, and there were rumors of men seeking 
more among the mountains. Our own peculiar 
guide disappeared. After a long absence he re- 
turned with two bests. We learned from him, 
through a friendly interpreter, that a third would 
soon be along ; of the fourth he was more uncertain, 
as he was supposed to be grazing on an island. He 
came at last, and proved to be the best of the lot, 
and he fell to me. We mounted, grasped the rope 
reins of the rope bridles, and moved off in solemn pro- 
cession. We were the last in the line. There were 
ladies before us, the most favored of whom had the 
national side-saddle, which was the ordinary saddle 
with a curving back on one side and one stirrup or 
step. 

It was a serious two hours which followed. The 
road was narrow and stony, and often so steep that 
we dismounted and led the horses. In one part we 
left them to find their own waj^ for ten minutes, 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH JSTORWAY, 77 

while we clambered on as we best could. There 
were paths before two of us wliich make these seem 
easy in the retrospect; but then they were hard. 
We rode up and down stairs, crossed bridges, and 
forded a considerable stream. Much of the way ran 
by the side of the rapids, which roared and rushed 
in their descent. It was rarely possible to hear the 
voice of a person at hand. Then we heard the deep 
roar which told us that we were drawing near to the 
cataract which we were seeking. It was a stupen- 
dous journey. I had never so deeply felt the sub 
limity, the immensity of mountains; the grandeur 
and the awfulness which belong to them in their 
highest estate. To move slowly, silently among 
them, yielding to their sombre and weighty control, 
was the most impressive experience of the day. 

We left our horses when we could go no further, 
and made our way-over the wet and slippery rocks 
till we stood opposite the falls. It was certainly a 
fine sight which was before us. The water falls by 
a single perpendicular leap of four hundred and 
seventy-five feet into a basin of rock. It breaks 
into spray as it descends, and the spray rises from 
below like smoke. We could see this long before 
we saw the falls themselves. We went further on 
into the mist till it was like a thick, fine rain and 
we could not face it. We were drenched by it 
almost as if we had been under the stream. Then 
we turned back, regained our horses, had a bit of the 
poor lunch we had brought with us, and returned by 
the way over which we had come. Now and then 
we found peasants w'ho seemed to be interested in 



78 ^OME THINGS ABROAD. 

US and ready to serve us. Once a woman gave me 
a drink of water from a large bo\vl which she held 
in her hands. We reached the hest station in 
safety, where we paid for our steeds, about eighty- 
six cents each. Then we walked to the boat, re- 
crossed the lake, and walked back to the Neesheims', 
which we reached at half-past seven. We had done 
a good day's work for novices. There was some 
difference of opinion regarding the profitableness of 
our excursion. Dr. W. said that he was glad that 
he had seen the Voringsfos, but that he would not go 
again. He affirmed that he desired to see no more 
waterfalls. Mr. B. seemed chiefly impressed with 
the danger of the ride on account of the roughness 
of the road, and more particularly of those portions 
over which we passed on our own feet, where we 
might easily have been crippled. The boy thought 
it had been a very good day, but regretted that he 
had not enjoyed a fleeter steed. For the remaining 
member of the party I can only express my satisfac- 
tion. The expedition to me was remunerative. I 
knew that I should remember it and feel its 
power. 

I must add a few words more touching the moun- 
tains through which we passed. They were so great 
that they made us feel very small as we crept along 
the narrow path which they gave us. In such a pres- 
ence one feels carried beyond himself, and brought 
close to Him " which by his strength setteth fast the 
mountains; being girded about with might." Life 
dw^indles, till a man remembers that he is greater 
than the hills, and shall live when they have been 



FBOM XE]VCASTLE THROUGH ^OBWAY. 79 

moved out of their place. It is grand that we can 
know we are his children, and that ''the strength 
of the hills is his also." 

On our return to the inn we found that othei 
guests had come while we were away. One of them 
I knew as an Andover student, then studying at 
Berlin, and another was the son and associate of the 
famous geographer Kiepert. We travelled with them 
afterwards. Then, there were many strangers, too 
many. We had come home hungry. But on the 
subject of dinner or supper the landlord could give 
us little comfort. He heard our statement of our 
case, and recognized our prior claim to places at his 
expensive table. But that claim he did not enforce. 
I do not know at present Avhether he could have 
done so. It seemed then that something should be 
done. It was done only by the later comers to the 
house, who were the-^earlier comers to the table. It 
seemed probable that our time might arrive. So we 
waited, but not patiently. Finally we found seats 
at the table. We found little besides. Raw beef 
and fried eggs were proffered us, but not accepted. 
The fish, a salmon, had been finished. We remon- 
strated in the language we understood best, and at 
last somebody brought forward a very good trout. 
Then we made our supper. We followed this by a 
conference, after which we climbed into our boxes, 
and over a very smooth road glided into sleep. 

There were clouds and showers in the morning, 
but the day promised well. We visited the very 
old church of the place, which stands on a moraine 
conveniently placed for this purpose. The house 



80 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

bears marks of its age. The seats were very narrow, 
with high backs, and were unfavorable for ecclesias- 
tical napping. The pulpit was high and gaudily 
painted, as were portions of the walls. The artist 
was probably a resident of the region. There was 
a painted crucifixion over the communion table. 
A partition divided the church. There was a brass 
alms-plate, and an iron frame for it to rest upon. 
Small boxes for mone}^ were on the walls. The con- 
tribution-box was a small leather bag affixed to 
the end of a pole six feet long. Just behind the bag 
was a bell, like one of our sleigh-bells, which gave 
timely notice of the approach of the collector. By 
the side of the church was the yard where '' the rude 
forefathers of the hamlet sleep." 

As the regular mode of conveyance was not at 
hand, and there was no more to detain us at Vik, we 
chartered a boat and four rowers to carry us on our 
way. Nothing could have been better. The air 
was soft and the water quiet, the hills were friendly, 
and the clouds were considerate. We had leisure 
for a long talk, with no stranger to understand or 
interrupt. We discussed matters of church, in re- 
gard to which we had diverse opinions but one 
spirit. Then we passed to the war and the questions 
connected with it. The two members of our party 
who were from the South were able to speak from 
that side of the matter, which we considered. One 
of them had been an officer in the Southern army. 
Both could describe the spirit of the conflict, and its 
causes and issues. Both could open up the life out 
of which the war came, and in which it ran its course. 



FROM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NOBWAY. 81 

I shall not attempt to repeat their words or thoughts. 
But their sincerity and intelligence and earnestness 
were manifest. It is like a dream, that long boat-ride 
on that summer day in Norwegian waters, where we 
were in perfect repose and leisure, far separate from 
the wide world, thinking and speaking of events 
which seemed to belong to another age, in times 
which were remote from those we were living in. 
We talked of conflict in that impressive peace, and 
told of the strife of armies as we moved on an 
unruffled sea, where we heard none of war's alarms, 
but only the sound of our own friendly voices, and 
the continuous plash of the heavy oars which were 
held by men who knew none of the things we said. 
Yet, doubtless, among those who fought for the old 
flag were some men from Norway. There was an 
old alliance of blood which must have made itself 
felt when the NortKinen rose up in the name of free- 
dom. 

Thus two hours were passed, making a serene 
memory, and our boat touched the pier at Ulvik. 
This was a finer and larger village than any which 
we had seen. It was charmingly placed on the 
rounding shore among the high hills. It was 
rich in hotels, and was clearly a place of summer 
resort. It was admirably situated for this. It 
was a spot on which we should be glad to linger 
for rest. I may say here that ''vik" means creek, 
and for obvious reasons is a common appendage 
to names in this land of streams. We thought 
it expedient to patronize the nearest hotel which 
promised what we desired. Baedeker assured us 



82 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

that Vesterim's Hotel was the house of the For- 
brugsforening. We saw no reason to call his state- 
ment in question, but it was more convenient for us 
to seek the S jur Brakenses, which he called ''- unpre- 
tending." We were soon in doubt whether it was 
not too unpretending for four American travellers. 
Could the deaf and dumb boatmen have said any- 
thing to our discredit ? Our arrival created not so 
much as a ripple of excitement, though we came by 
private conveyance, in a boat and four. We boldly 
entered the house, but even that aroused no one. 
We dropped our luggage in the narrow hall, and 
awaited developments. There were none for a time. 
At last there was a movement. Twenty people, 
more or less, appeared and hurried into the dining- 
room. We knew what that meant, and attempted 
to join the procession. We succeeded in this per- 
fectly, but when we reached the threshold of the 
door every seat at the table was occupied. We 
came and saw, but left the quotation incomplete. 
We deliberated, and no one offered us so much as a 
word of encouragement, or a scrap of the advice 
which is usually freely given under such circum- 
stances. We made no remarks to the company or 
to the proprietor; I do not know that we even saw 
a proprietor. We were not fluent in the Norse, and 
if we had been there was no one to listen to our 
appeal. With the help of our red-coated friend, who 
went with us everywhere, we could have inquired, 
Hvad kan jeg faa at spise? Some one could have 
replied. Vent I'idt ! Bi I'idt! But there was no use 
in talking. We walked out and took an outside 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 83 

view of other hotels. There was the Skycls Station ; 
and Villerasen's, which had an attractive look. But 
we saw no encouragement, and we had grown dis- 
trustful of ourselves and of the world. We went 
back to our luggage, quite as hungry as when we 
set out, and waited to see what would happen. 
Nothing happened for a long time. Finally, a woman 
emerged and drew near to us. Her face indicated 
good-nature, with a touch of curiosity. Her manner 
hinted a suspicion that we might be in want of some- 
thing, and it was barely possible that dinner might 
meet our views. She looked an inquiry till one of 
us ventured upon speech. ''Middag?" She replied, 
"Ja." ^^Fisk?" ^^Ja." ^^Orret?" ^'Ja." Our conver- 
sation was entirely satisfactory. The woman went 
off pleased, and we remained pleased and expec- 
tant. As soon as conld be expected, the trout were 
on the table and we were summoned to our repast. 
It was good, and our patience, if it was patience, had 
its reward. When we had paid the proper charges, 
there remained an hour in which we contentedly sur- 
veyed the landscape, and then we left the house as 
unnoticed as when we entered it. This is all charac- 
teristic of the people. They are kind and hospitable ; 
but they are at the farthest remove from sycophancy, 
while they abound in politeness. Hence the arrival 
at a house and the departure from it are without cer- 
emony, and the guest is allowed to care for himself 
and to use anything which he can find. When you 
do come upon anybody in authority, you are treated 
with deference, and no one is so poor that he will not 
shake hands with you. This simplicity is attractive. 



84 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

I now see four travellers descending the steps of the 
Sjur Brakenses, each of them bearing his own im- 
pedimenta, and the sight is pleasant as a memory. 
One of us left a hat behind him in the house, and 
the same is probably doing dut}^ on the shore of the 
fjord to-day. We nearly missed the steamer for 
which we were waiting. There was no one to 
instruct us, and we went to the nearer pier. Pres- 
ently the sharp eyes of the bo}^ discovered that the 
steamer was coming to the other pier. We seized 
our bags and hurried off, and were just in time to 
embark. 

From Ulvik we went to Eide. The pier at Eide 
was crowded with soldiers who had broken up camp 
and were on their way to their homes. The boister- 
ous manner of some of them indicated that not far 
from the camp had been the cup which both cheers 
and inebriates. The sale of liquors had been the 
subject of legislation, but perhaps the old rule, that 
in the time of war the laws are silent, applies to a 
military encampment in time of peace. Later in the 
evening we saw a young fellow, with a fine fresh 
face, lying in deep slumber on his dray, while his 
contented horse nibbled the grass at the roadside in 
lieu of the hay in the manger from which he was 
detained. We touched the man as forcibly as it is 
proper to prod a gentleman with an umbrella, but 
we made no sensible impression, and we left him to 
his shameless sleep and shameful wakening. We 
looked into the crowd on the pier and inquired for 
Mr. Maeland. He presented himself, and we men- 
tioned the name of the consul at Bergen. It was 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NOBWAY. 85 

enough. He took charge of us and our belongings 
and. escorted us to his house. This was under his 
personal care, and in its management was not unlike 
a good American hotel. We had seen nothing like 
this, and it was refreshing. Eide is pleasantly sit- 
uated at the base of the mountain, and is more 
resorted to in the summer than any other place on 
this fjord. But the views are not so good as there 
are at Ulvik. In the morning, at ten, we were off 
ao^ain in a carriac^e of our own. We had an inter- 
esting drive. Shall I say once more that our way 
was among mountains and waterfalls, over roads 
which were often steep and rocky, through plains 
which were green and fruitful? Early in the 
afternoon we reached Vossevangen. Two hotels 
had been recommended, but neither of them with- 
out qualification. We hesitated, but settled upon 
Fleischer's. Here ^was a Norwegian who had been 
in our Northern army, and a Confederate officer had 
come to be his guest. But neither was disturbed by 
the military affiliation of the other. Mr. Fleischer 
was a stout, good-natured man, and seemed to take 
life as easily as he could. His house was a busy 
place, and not so well ordered as Mr. Mseland's at 
Eide. We were in time for dinner, which was a 
very slow meal. The chief article presented was a 
compound of meat, bones, cabbage, and potatoes. 
Mr. B. insisted that the foundation was ox-tail, but 
we could not see that he had sufficient ground for 
that opinion. Then came sausage and potatoes, fol- 
lowed by cherries, nuts, and raisins. Cherries were 
plenty at this season, and I should think that sau- 



86 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

sages in different forms were alwa5"s in season. It 
was a very fair dinner. There was in the house 
a rather extensive collection of national costumes, 
and trinkets, chiefly of silver. These were for show 
and for sale. The silver was left unguarded, and 
was a witness to the national confidence. The girls 
who were in attendance showed us the dresses, and 
with them an elaborate crown such as is worn by a 
bride. We asked the younger of the girls to put 
this on her head that we might see how it looked. 
She laughed and declined ; but she afterwards set it 
on the head of an older woman, and also the cap 
which is worn on the way home from church, after 
the crown has been taken off. There is a pointed 
and most becoming white head-dress which only 
married women can wear. It is an art to put 
one on properly. We saw it done at Odde. Un- 
married women wear on their heads a handkerchief, 
or nothing, while their hair hangs in long twisted 
braids. All the costumes are certainly pleasing, 
and it is a pity that they are now so little worn 
except in the most retired parts of the country. 

Vossevangen is at the eastern end of the Vangs- 
vand, a beautiful lake with several towns around it. 
We devoted a few hours to an examination of the 
town and its surroundiijgs. The country about is 
finely cultivated, and has been significantly termed 
'' the kitchen-garden of Bergen." But it is surely much 
more than that. The farms are well conducted, and 
are more extensive than are usually found in this 
land of mountains. The most interesting building 
is the stone church, which is six hundred years old. 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 87 

A venerable dame admitted us to the ancient pre- 
cincts. We found the church very neatly kept. A 
very young child was the companion of the very old 
woman, and probably the solace of her age, if not 
the assistant of her labor. The woman seemed 
properly impressed when she learned that we were 
from America, though it was not without difficulty 
tliat we conveyed that information to her somewhat 
sluggish brain. She cordially extended her right 
hand after we had generously put something in the 
left. There was an old altar-piece, a candelabrum of 
1733, and an antique Bible, with memorial tablets 
in honor of long departed worth. The font was a 
pewter basin held by a plaster angel, who was sus- 
pended from the ceiling by an iron rod fastened in 
his back. We went into the high gallery, where 
there was an old and infirm organ, and a music-book 
published in Cleveland, and a copy of Bliss and 
Sankey's hymns and tunes. 

They have prizes for something of a sportive sort 
even in this remote town : for in a window we saw 
two silver cups, and this inscription upon a paper 
which was lying on them : — 

Central foreningers 

Premier 

Yed 

Konkerreneeskydningen 

paa Yoss 5te August 1883. 

At nine o'clock on Thursday morning we resumed 
our seats in our carriage and left Vossevangen. The 
clouds were heavj^, and it soon rained hard ; but we 



88 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

were protected by umbrellas and rubber coats. We 
dined at a small house by the Opheimsvand, upon 
the customary trout and sausage. The rain was 
over when we started again, save for an occasional 
sprinkle, and w^e greatly enjoyed our drive. The 
mountains and valleys in the latter half of the day 
surpassed any which we had seen. The sublimity 
of the one and the profundity of the other are un- 
equalled, at least in this part of Norway. The 
valleys were a picture of quietness as we looked 
down into them. '^Vang" means meadow or pas- 
ture, but we saw more rocks than grass. Far up 
the hills we could see patches of green which it 
seemed well nigh impossible to reach. It looked as 
if the grass there must be cut with scissors, and the 
grain measured in a thimble. Small buildings — 
soeters — showed where herdsmen have their summer 
homes, and where sometimes the sportsman is glad 
to find refuge, and to be refreshed on fladbrod, with 
milk and cheese, and to rest in a mountain bed. 
From lofty fields the hay is sent down on a wire. 
In the fields below we saw the grass hanging upon 
a sort of fence made by poles and strings running 
across a line of posts, where it could quickly be 
dried. Where the showers are frequent, haste in 
haj^making is very necessary. We saw grass grow- 
ing on the roofs of many of the poorer houses and 
sheds. In some cases trees of considerable size were 
firmly rooted on the roof. The roads were excellent. 
In some parts they were marvels of engineering. 
We were reminded of the Swiss passes and their 
wonderful winding roads. Waterfalls were of con- 



Fli02I NEWCASTLE TIIBOUGFI IS'OIUVAY. 89 

stant occurrence, from the impoverished rill to the 
affluent fos. The fine cup which a Cambridge 
friend had given me was very useful. We came at 
night into a narrow valley between awful moun- 
tains. The gloom was oppressive. Never had we 
been so completely shut in and overpowered. For 
sixteen weeks in the year the sun does not reach 
into these depths, and it can never linger there. 
Our road led into the valley and through it. There 
was no other. On one side of the fjord was a path 
at the base of the mountains, by which the little 
church could be reached; for there was a church 
there, and a few houses and two hotels — Helland's 
and Hansen's. This was Gudvangen, at the head of 
the Naro Fjord. The attentive canon had arrived 
before us, and, fearing that we might not find 
accommodation for the night, had engaged rooms 
for us at Hansen's, and he came out to tell us that 
he had done so. We were made very comfortable 
for the night, but it was a fearfully lonely place. 
How life must shrink and thought die out, and the 
whole man be crushed, in these sombre recesses of 
the earth I 

We left Gudvangen at six o'clock the next morn- 
ing. The rising sun changed the aspect of the 
mountains, and the cloud effects baffled all descrip- 
tion. Think of the liglit stealing down the long 
slopes, creeping slowly into the valley, and casting 
the shadows of the clouds it sported with over the 
long ranges of rocks ! The steamer came out into 
broader waters and under a more open skj. We 
passed through the Aurlands Fjord into the Sogne 



90 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Fjord, near its eastern end, and, running into the 
Lardals Fjord, landed at Lardalsoren. The consul 
had telegraphed to Mr. Lindstrom, the proprietor of 
the hotel, and he had a carriage in waiting for us. 
We completed the process of bargaining, and re- 
sumed our travel by land. We were in a carriage 
with seats for four persons. It was very much the 
same as one of our barouches; but it was rather 
shabby, and the two front seats were much more 
uncomfortable than the others. This seemed to be 
the best mode of convej^ance for us. It was not the 
only one. We could have taken the public stage, 
or diligence ; but in that case we should have been 
subject to such horses and such company as might 
be provided. We could have hired a stolkjoerre^ 
which is a light wagon for two persons, or a hariol^ 
which is a kind of gig for one person. Then the 
luggage would have been tied on behind the seat, 
and somebody called a skydsgut^ ot gut^ would have 
had his seat upon the luggage. The traveller could 
drive for himself and run the risk of accident, or the 
attendant would take both reins and risk. The gut 
might be a man or a woman, a boy or a girl. In 
either case there would be little conversation with 
the traveller. At intervals along the road are sta- 
tions where horses can be procured or changed. 
These are regulated by law, and are of two kinds. 
At the faste stationer^ or fixed stations, a certain 
number of horses must be kept in readiness. In the 
parts of the country where there is little travel, 
there are the tilsigelse stationer — stations whose 
keepers are required to send out to the farmers in 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 91 

the vicinity and procure horses when they are 
needed. This is the origin of tlie name, for tilsige 
means to tell to, or send to. The period of waiting 
may be prolonged for hours, so that tourists natu- 
rally make a name in antithesis to the former, and 
call them " slow stations." The proper thing to do 
is to send a forhud^ or message, in advance, that the 
horses may be on hand when they are wanted. Of 
course, when there are many travellers it is not an 
easy matter to provide horses for them ; and, while 
the first comers are promptly supplied, those who 
are later may have a long trial of patience. But 
there is a book kept at every station, called a dag- 
hog^ or day-book, in which the traveller can make a 
record of his orders, and can also enter his com- 
plaints. This may help the next man, and may 
bring an offending master to a reckoning ; but it 
cannot be of much immediate advantage to the com- 
plainant. It is to be supposed, however, that those 
vvlio are engaged in the station business will do all in 
their power to '' speed the parting guest." They also 
welcome one who comes, as the station is usually a 
modest house of entertainment, where the traveller 
also finds bed and board. At the season of the year 
when we were passing through the country the 
arrangements of all kinds were ample. 

We did not wish to move in a string of four 
kariols^ or even of two stolkjoerres. Neither method 
would be favorable to friendly intercourse. Riding 
alone must be lonesome, and the person behind the 
traveller could not break the monotony. There was 
an attractiveness about the national conveyance, 



92 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 

but we adhered to our instructions and our shabby- 
barouche. We moved on without delay, and at 
noon stopped at Husum, a faste station. We were 
in the Lardal, one of the grandest of the valleys of 
Norway. The station was at the centre of its best 
scenery. We had the usual dinner and rest, and 
then moved on. At night we stopped at Maristuen. 
Our plan set down Nystuen for this night ; but our 
driver had declared before we set out that he could 
not go so far, and he proved this by his slow driv- 
ing. We muttered as we came along, and when we 
stopped we reasoned. It made little difference 
where we were that night; but we wished to reach 
our allotted place on Saturday, and to lose a station 
on the first day meant that we would be a station 
short on the second day. We prevailed on a 
friendly stage-driver, who knew enough English for 
this purpose, to express our views to our driver, and 
to offer him a pecuniary inducement to take us 
through to the right place on the next day. The 
man stubbornly refused. We resolved to remember 
his obstinacy when we meted out his gratuity. It 
was plain that, while we travelled in our own car- 
riage, we were not our own masters. 

We were in a very lonesome place, but the kind 
woman in charge gave us a good supper of cheese 
with other things. The station-house proper was 
full, and my boy and I were taken across the road, 
where we had a good room and beds. We were 
on good ground, for six hundred years ago, almost, 
a hospice had been founded here by pious men, 
for the comfort of travellers through their moun- 



FRO^f NEWCASTLE THBOUGII NOIIWAY. 93 

tains. Their house was gone, but the hospitality 
remained, to be enjoyed by men from beyond the 
sea. 

I have not mentioned the most interesting part of 
the day's journey, our visit to the old churclr of Bor- 
gund. No one knows its age, but we may call it 
seven centuries and not be far out of the way. It 
is one of the very few surviving specimens of an 
ancient and fantastic style of architecture, and is in 
better condition than any other. Nothing bat a pic- 
ture can give anj" idea of its peculiar construction, 
and a picture at once suggests China and its pago- 
das. It was built of logs laid horizontally and 
strongly fastened to heavy posts. Upon the walls is a 
high roof, from which rises a clerestory, out of which 
rises a structure resembling a belfry, in three dimin- 
ishing stories, surmounted by a very slender spire. 
There are many gables. Some of them are adorned 
with a cross, while from others spring the most curi- 
ous projections, which have the look of serpents 
attempting to escape from the influences within the 
house by a sudden flight into the open air, though 
never able to free themseves from the imprisoning 
roof. Within, the church is extremely dark. The 
builders made scant provision for the admittance of 
light and air. There is a nave, which is nearly 
square and very high, and encircling this are low 
aisles, with round pillars sustaining arches of wood. 
The choir is at the east, but appears to be cut off 
from the church proper by the aisles, which run 
aground the central portion or nave. The w^alls and 
roof are shingled. There is no paint in or on the 



94 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

church, but the exterior looks as if it had been 
coated with tar for its better preservation. It is al- 
most black. About the Wwer story is an arcade, or 
covered passage, with small columns of wood. This 
may have been designed to protect the house against 
the severe cold and the snow. The doors and their 
frames, the capitals of the numerous columns, and 
other parts of the building, are decorated with 
strange carvings, dragons twined together, and ani- 
mals in various eccentric forms, with foliage and 
elaborate scroll-work. It needed a lively fancy to 
produce such marvellous ornamentation. On one of 
the dooi"S are Runic inscriptions, which are trans- 
lated : — ' 

Thorer wrote these lines on St. Olaf s fair. 
This church in the church-ground. 

I do not know what meaning these lines may have 
had when they were traced. But now the former 
reads like inscriptions which are painfully com- 
mon in public places, and as if Thorer had sought 
fame in an easy way; while the latter seems 
to be the work of a thoughtless knife in an idle 
hand. But it is very likely that they had a higher 
significance in the forgotten century which gave 
them to the world. Entirely separate from the 
church is the old Klochstapel^ or bell-tower, a lofty 
structure of wood with sloping sides, and a cleres- 
tory with an ornamented roof. There are two bells 
in the high belfry. These buildings now belong to 
the Christiania Antiquarian Society, and will thus be 
preserved as a memorial of the elder days of art. 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY, 96 

The church is not used for public service. It would 
hold about a hundred persons. The altar and font 
are of stone and very rude. The pulpit, which is 
dismounted, and the altar-piece are of more recent 
times, I think. It would be pleasant for the people 
to raise their psalm and prayer where their ancestors 
worshipped. This would not be convenient. Yet a 
stranger would much prefer an hour within its 
gloomy, venerable walls to one in the modern and 
well appointed church which is near by, and is now 
the meeting-place and sanctuary. 

We left Maristuen at nine o'clock on Saturday 
morning. The day was cold in the first part, but 
grew warmer and brighter. We found the road 
hilly, so that we walked much of the way. In por- 
tions the road was quite under the cliffs out of which 
it was cut. At one place a shed had been built to 
protect the traveller from falling stones. We dined 
at Grindaheim, where the landlord, Ole For, speaks 
English, if the book is to be trusted. But he did 
not present himself, and we derived no benefit from 
his linguistic talent. We had parted company with 
the accomplished canon, but a pleasant German and 
his wife kept along with us, and there was also a 
young Lancashire man, whom we called '' Kariol " 
because he journeyed in that vehicle. In the after- 
noon we met a funeral procession. • A low cart car- 
ried the black coffin, on which three men sat astride. 
Then came eight small vehicles, of different styles, 
filled with men and women who showed no signs of 
grief. It might have passed for a festal company 
but for the coffin. The end of the line was decidedly 



96 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

of this character. As we came up, the last two car- 
riages were in trouble. One of these was a kariol, 
but on its single seat was a woman with a man in 
her lap. This was probably regarded as an improve- 
ment on the inventor's design. In the other carriage 
were a young man and a woman with a gay handker- 
chief on her head, which showed that she was unmar- 
ried. These two vehicles had collided. Evidently, 
one or both of the men had partaken too lavishly of 
the funeral refreshments. Locked in the step of the 
kariol was the hub of the wheel of the other carriage. 
Words attended the entanglement. The brilliant 
head-covering made a flying leap, and the maiden who 
wore it landed at the side of the road, where she stood 
and expressed her feelings. She expressed her feel- 
ings in Norwegian, which seemed equal to the exi- 
gency. Her man pulled his wheel clear, while the 
other man kept his seat. At length the extrication 
was complete, the freed carriage fell into line, and 
the sad procession went on its way and was soon 
lost to sight. The impressiveness of the occasion 
was marred by the incident which I have described. 
Yet the ending of a life is always solemn, even when 
-one knows nothing of him who has passed away. 
There were sad hearts at the front of this little com- 
pany, and some home was darker for want of the life 
which had gone out from the hills of Norway to the 
land which is not very far off. We noticed that the 
graves which we passed were usually marked by a 
wooden cross on an upright board. The inscription 
was chiefly on the cross-piece. We saw white stones 
at some graves. We passed this afternoon a Lu- 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 97 

theran minister on his way to his Sabbath service in 
some one of these scattered hamlets. 

At night we reached the station at Loken. We 
expected a great deal here, for the landlord, Mr. 
Ordgaard, was a member of Parliament. We thought 
that this fact and the commendation which we 
brought from two other members of Parliament 
would secure for us all the luxuries of the place. 
Perhaps it was so. Tlie M. P. was a man of good 
appearance, and his house was superior to those 
we had before seen. The building was large and 
somewhat adorned. If the proprietor spoke English, 
we did not find it out. Mr. B., who prided himself 
on his abilitj^ to talk English to a foreigner, labored 
hard to convince hiin that more covering was needed 
on his bed. At last he resorted to pantomime, the 
universal language, and the proprietor expressed 
himself convinced and enlightened. The supper 
was rather ordinary, all things considered. " Will 
you have supper ? " " Yes.'' " What would you 
like?" ''Fish." ''No fish." "No fish?" "No 
fish." " What ? " " Eggs." " And meat ? " " Yes, 
meat." So the bill of fare was constructed — eggs 
and meat, with tea. The meat proved to be the 
inevitable sausage-balls. After a time one wearies 
even of such dainties. The German lady wished to 
" command shicken." We knew that would be 
hopeless. " Kariol " arrived late, having experi- 
enced many delays. He had a woman for a skyds- 
gut. Four Norwegians arrived in a carriage, and the 
house was full. Beds were on e\evy side of us. In 
the morning I heard the voice of birds and fancied 



98 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

we were to have "shicken." The voices ceased, 
and the hope grew towards an assurance. Then the 
voices were heard again. I wondered if there were 
any fowls in those parts. A lonesome hen which I 
saw afterward made it probable. The word for 
chicken is kylling. Was there ever a greater mis- 
nomer? The chickens of Norway must reach an 
old age. The eggs gave out at breakfast, so that a 
hen's life cannot be laborious, which would secure 
longevity. 1 believe that up to this time we had 
seen fowls on the table but once, and that was at a 
private house in Bergen. 

We found that there was no service in the Loken 
church on that day, for Avhich we were sorry. We 
passed tlie time very quietly. The view from the 
house was very fine, including a lake and the moun- 
tains standing around it. The whole scene was 
restful and refreshing. The lone hen was cackling 
out a frivolous existence, and no one was hurried or 
troubled. 

We found it necessary to pass the night a little 
farther on, at Fagerhund, the fair grove.- It was a 
delightful spot. Artists and sportsmen resort to it, 
and many others find it attractive. It was well 
appointed for the pleasure of the guests. We found 
a very bright girl who spoke English remarkably 
well. She gave us an admirable supper, late as it 
was when we arrived. She also gave us a fire in 
the parlor, for the night was cold. 

We had an early awakening, and were faithfully 
cared for by the English-speaking girl, who did her- 
self credit at the table. Then we took our carriage. 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY, 99 

The way soon brought us to a high hill, — a moun- 
tain, in fact, — and we made most of the ascent on 
foot. This was largely a pedestrian journey. At 
noon we halted at Sveen, a well placed station in 
an interesting part of the country, with good views 
and pleasant walks. The day was sunny and warm. 
The scenery was less bold than that we had left, 
but the fields looked better. We passed large farms, 
which were well tilled, with good houses and vari- 
ous farming machines, which were the signs of a 
more prosperous condition. We drove through for- 
ests of spruce, and saw many weeping birches, very 
handsome trees. We were pleased with the chil- 
dren whom we met. Many of the boys took off 
their hats in our honor, and the girls dropped a 
courtesy. The men and women often greeted us 
with respectful salutation. At night we reached 
Odnses, and our long drive was ended. It had 
been very pleasant, and we had been prospered in 
all our way. We had come through a wonderful 
country, to which no words can do justice, and we 
had seen much of the people and their mode of life, 
and had made a good store of things to think about 
on the other side of the sea. 

We paid our driver his hundred Jcrones^ and 
added the six which we had been told would be 
a proper gratuity. This part we had talked of with- 
holding when he refused to carry out our plans; 
but he had been a good-natured fellow, and had 
brought us through very comfortably, and we felt 
amiable and generous. He shook hands with us, 
and went off highly contented. 



100 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

The hotel at Odnses was forlorn so far as eating 
went, and that is a long way in a hungry land. We 
struggled hard for bodily refreshment, but there 
were many engaged in the same work, and we had 
but moderate success. We left the town early the 
next day, and had a dreary passage down the fjord. 
It rained and rained, and the boat was crowded ; 
but we reached Randsfjord before two o'clock. We 
saw a hotel at some distance off and made our waj^ 
to it and took our seats at the table. No one ob- 
jected; no one did anything else. A waiter paid 
some attention to other guests, but spared none for 
us ; so we left the table and walked through the 
sand towards the railroad station. Soon we found 
that a woman was following us, and beckoning us 
back with abundant gesticulation. But we gave no 
heed. She had lost her chance. We found a table 
at the station, with coffee and cakes, and we helped 
ourselves, after the manner of the country, and paid 
our reckoning upon our own statement. When the 
train was ready we took our seats, and at eleven 
were in Christiania. We needed a conveyance to 
the Victoria Hotel. A man offered his services, and 
we accepted them. We took him for a cab-driver. 
It was a mistake. He led us through the station 
and out-of-doors, past all the carriages. Whither 
was he taking us ? That was our inquiry, to which 
he made no intelligible reply. With wild motions 
he disappeared, and we stood on the pavement with 
our luggage. He soon reappeared with a hand-dray, 
upon which he placed our goods. Then he started 
rapidly down the street. We followed him, for 



FB02I NEWCASTLE THROUGH JSTOBWAY. IQl 

there was nothing else to do. Xow and then we 
lost sight of him, and realized the absurdity of our 
position as we rushed blindly through the streets of 
a strange city at midnight. We finally came up 
with him, and soon stopped at the friendly door 
which we sought. The excellent consul at Christi- 
ania had engaged fine rooms for us, and had left a 
good pile of letters which had come to his care, and 
we had a very home-like feeling as we ended the day 
in the delightful house which was to be our home 
while we remained in Norway. 

Christiania, the capital of Norway, is a city of 
seventy-seven thousand people, according to the 
last reckoning which I have seen. It has a fine sit- 
uation at the head of the fjord of the same name as 
the city. Its appearance is modern, for it has been 
renewed by fires from time to time, so that the most 
of the old houses 4iave disappeared. Those were, 
naturally, built of timber, while their successors are 
usually of brick covered with stucco, which gives 
them a very neat look. The wide streets, the great 
buildings, the well furnished stores, were especially 
impressive to us who had just come from the sim- 
plicity of the interior. It was evident that we had 
come into the life of the present, with its novelty 
and its eagerness. Here there was, eight centuries 
ago, the town of Oslo, or Opslo, founded by Harald 
Hardraade. That was burned by its own citizens, 
that it might not fall into the possession of the 
Swedes. Fifty years later the town was again 
burned, and then the king, who was Christian IV., 
set up a new town about his fortress of Akershus, 



102 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

or Agei'shus. About this a wall was erected. It 
suffered fearfully from a plague soon after, but a 
little later it profited by the misfortune of its Lon- 
don neighbors, whose great fire made a demand for 
the lumber of Norway, and thus created a foreign 
trade. The town has felt the vicissitudes of the 
years, but it has prospered. There the Storthing, 
the national parliament, holds its annual sessions. 
The one university of Norway is there, where Fred- 
erick VI. established it in 1811. Its lecture-rooms 
were in various places in the town, but are now in 
one large and handsome building. The last report 
which I have gives five faculties, with fifty-three 
professors, and more than a thousand students, and 
a library of two hundred and fifty thousand vol- 
umes. There are various museums connected with 
the university, for the illustration of the natural and 
social history of the country. Near by is the Art 
Museum, in a building presented to the town by the 
Savings Bank, and containing the galleries of scal])- 
ture and painting. 

At the time of our visit the National Exhibition 
was open, and we were surprised to see how exten- 
sive and excellent this was. We saw what the 
people were doing, and with the greatest interest. 
There was wonderful work in silver, in designs 
of surpassing beauty and with the greatest deli- 
cacy of execution. There were elegant carriages, 
from the stately brougham to the more character- 
istic kariol or carriole. Furs were there in large 
variety, and woollens of fine quality. The exhibi- 
tion of books and of photographs and of paintings 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 103 

was most creditable. The building itself was an 
attractive specimen of architecture, and admirablj'' 
adapted to its purposes. It was a delight to wander 
through its departments, to listen to the fine music, 
to watch the people, and to know that this was the 
Norway among whose mountains and hamlets we 
had been wandering. Here we saw the commodities 
and elegancies of the life of the nation ; the furni- 
ture of the houses, the pottery and crockery, the 
gloves and shoes — even the cod-liver oil and punch 
and beer, which were in proximity to whale-meat, 
which seemed to be a new article for hardy fisher- 
men whose earnings are not enough for luxuries. 

Through the great courtesy of our excellent con- 
sul we saw a little of the best home-life of Norway. 
We visited his own place, Frogner, which is a little 
way out of the town, and preserves its charac- 
ter as a country hi)me. The buildings make up an 
extensive establishment. We could hardly believe 
that we were in private grounds as we drove up 
between the outstretched buildings to the long 
house which is the residence of the family. There 
we found the hospitality which has no national 
limits, which gave to us the best of two nationali- 
ties. It was more pleasant than I can tell to have 
these hours in a home ; to look down upon a fair 
garden, to sit under the majestic trees, and to renew 
a friendship formed beyond the sea. If the eyes of 
Consul Gade should ever rest upon these lines, I 
trust that he will pardon me that I liave spoken so 
familiarly of his house and household. 

I was permitted to go still further into the coun- 



104 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

try and to get another glimpse at the home-life. 
This was at a summer house, a neat, attractive 
building, where the handsome wood was allowed to 
show its color and texture untouched by paint 
within or without. The hospitality was in keeping 
with the house, and was generous and genuine. 
Some sixteen or eighteen persons were at the 
dinner, which was in honor of a gentleman who 
had formerly been the British consul at Christiania. 
It was a very pleasant party, and I was able to learn 
many things through eyes and ears, and to get what 
seemed a fair idea of the Eastern feeling upon the 
disturbed political affairs of the country, and to 
balance that which I had received at Bergen. 

I cannot describe all that we saw in Christiania, 
or give an adequate impression of any of it. We 
visited a large new hospital, which we saw to advan- 
tage under the guidance of Dr. Gade, one of the 
surgeons. It was very complete, so far as we could 
judge. Our sympathy was drawn out by a poor 
sailor for whom some of our friends had been caring, 
to whom he seemed to be grateful. He had lost an 
arm on one of our national ships in a Fourth of July 
salute, and was waiting till he could return home. 
He had every attention, and appeared to deserve the 
care ; but I have since learned that he turned out 
to be a worthless fellow. The kindness was right, 
nevertheless, and will not lose its reward. We 
went also to see the viking's ship, or the viking's 
ships. One of them is in very good preservation. 
There is some personal interest in these vessels; 
for, if these particular ships never reached our coast, 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 105 

others which were like them certainly did so. It 
is judged from their shape that they were good sea- 
boats. The viking was a venturesome man ; liis 
name has a distinguished sound in it ; but he was 
in truth a sort of sea-rover or adventurer, not to give 
a harslier epithet. One of these old wanderers, 
dead for a thousand years, has been betrayed at this 
late day. He made his ship his tomb, and rested 
quietly through stormy centuries. Then curiosity 
opened the mound which was over him, and tomb 
and tenant came to light. It was at a time when 
Science could reconstruct him. He Avas not more 
than fifty years old, and he was over six feet high, 
and in those distant and forgotten days he suffered 
from rheumatism. His life on the rough seas wrote 
its story into his bones in hieroglyphics which we 
can read, and at last, in the height of his years, 
the stout sailor made his last voyage, but did not 
give up the ship. " Then I said, I shall die in my 
nest." We saw also the bones of horses and dogs 
who had sometimes kept him company. We could 
readily construct a tale of adventure which might 
not be very far from the truth, while we were 
near the man who made it a real thing. We have 
not yet done justice to those old Northmen, upon 
whose history our own abuts on our shores. Per- 
haps we shall know more and do more by and by. 

The visitor to Christiania brings away a few pieces 
of old silver, in addition to the new works which he 
admires. Men are going about the country with 
their wares, which the peasants are glad to buy with 
their old-fashioned spoons and cups and brooches. 



106 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

So this old ware, sometimes bearing a date and a 
name, finds its way to the silver-smith's, where it is 
preferred above that which is new, and with good 
reason. We were able to examine a notable collec- 
tion of bric-a-brac in a private house. The house 
itself was of rare interest, and it was filled w^ith 
relics and wonders, and was rich in wood-work, 
beatifully carved, and in china, glass, and silver, and 
pictures. There were great treasures in a small 
place. 

We went out to Oscar's Hall, which is in a fine 
park on a high hill. It was built for King Oscar 
and is left for the use of the reigning sovereign. It 
has many fine paintings, and affords extensive views 
of the surrounding countr}^- Many royal dresses 
are to be seen, standing as stiff as if their elegance 
still enclosed the royalty which they once covered 
and adorned. It was a vision of pageantry without 
the life. It was the viking's ship without the man. 
We wanted to try the kariol, and for this purpose 
the boy and I chartered two in which we drove to 
the Frognersseter, where there is the summer resi- 
dence of Consul Heftye. The vehicle proved an easy 
one, but our experience confirmed our impression 
that it must be a lonesome method of travelling. 
One does need another one with whom to talk, even 
if he has not much to say. We could not go into 
the house, but as it was not occupied, and the win- 
dows had no closed shutters, we seemed to be 
invited to look in and see where undoubtedly com- 
fort and plenty have their seat, where we should 
have been glad to find them that day. We ad- 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THEOUGH NORWAY. 107 

mired the grand views which the height opened 
before us, and went up beyond the house, where we 
could have a still wider range over sea and land, 
and out to the mountains of snow. It was a profit- 
able excursion in all respects. 

Our little company broke up at Christiania. Dr. 
Williams and Mr. Blackford were going to Stockholm 
and Finland. We saw them leave us with regret, for 
we had been very happy with them, and we wanted 
to see the countries which they were to visit. But 
our way led towards the south. On Saturdaj^ the 
18th of August, we said our Farvel to our kind Chris- 
tiania friends, and on the large steamer which bears 
the name of the city we sailed away. 

But I must say a little more of Norway before we 
go further. One cannot be in the country without 
becoming interested in its political condition and 
relations. His inquiries may not take him back to 
Ynglingar, or Olaf Troetelje, or to Halfdan Svarte, or 
even to his son, Harald Haarfager, the fair-haired 
king. But he will surely wish to know the connec- 
tion between Norwaj^ and Sweden, which seem to 
have been destined by nature to make one kingdom, 
and which are one and not one. There is no occasion 
to multiply names and dates in these pages. At the 
very end of the fourteenth century, Norway, Sweden, 
and Denmark were united under Margaret of Den- 
mark as regent. This union, which was little more 
than nominal, lasted for a hundred years and over, 
when Sweden withdrew. That was the time when 
the Vasa line began to rule in Sweden. The other 
two countries maintained the union until 1814. 



108 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

During this period Sweden attempted to get con- 
trol of Norway, and did not succeed. But the 
purpose was not abandoned. A national spirit was 
rising in Norway. The people were encouraged by 
the result of their conflict with Sweden, and by their 
wealth and independence. They were becoming 
separated from their allies, the Danes, whom they 
regarded as inferior to themselves. In 1810 a soci- 
ety was formed for the welfare of Norway, and by 
some persons it was urged that this end would best 
be secured by a union with Sweden. In 1812 Russia 
gave Sweden permission to annex Norway, and in 
1814, at the Peace of Kiel, Denmark ceded Norway 
to Sweden. Thus Norway and Denmark were sep- 
arated. In these transactions the party chiefly 
interested had little share. It is not a solitary 
instance of this in European politics. But Norway 
was not ready to submit to this chess-board treat- 
ment. The spirit of independence was rising, the 
old Norse temper. What had been done in tlie 
name of liberty in France and America fostered the 
desire for a free country. The Swedish king prom- 
ised a liberal constitution, but the Norwegians pre- 
ferred one of their own making, in which the neigh- 
boring king should have no part. With fasting and 
prayer and preaching and vows of fidelity, they met 
by their representatives, and made their declaration 
of independence. They set up a temporary govern- 
ment, and framed a constitution which was adopted 
on the 17th of May, 1814, at Eidsvold, a small town 
forty miles above Christiania. The farm-house in 
which the meetings were held has been purchased 



FROM NEWCASTLE THBOUGH NORWAY. 109 

hj the government, and on its walls are portraits of 
members of the famous assembly. The Seventeenth 
of Mavis the Norwegian "Fourth of July." The 
day deserves its honor. It was a brave deed which 
these men wrought, a bold stand which they took for 
independence, when a people few in numbers and with 
scant resources asserted their right to liberty, in the 
face of all the nations of Europe. They did not accom- 
plish all their purpose, but they served and advanced 
their country. They proclaimed the Crown Prince 
of Denmark, Christian Frederic, King of Norway. 
Then the great powers, Russia, England, and the 
rest, came to Christiania to carry out their plans and 
enforce their bargains. War was declared against 
the brave people, and they could only submit to the 
forces they could not resist. They fought well and 
with success, but they could not hope to prevail. 
The outcome of it till was, that Christian resigned 
his throne and went back to Denmark, that the 
Storthing which had been summoned confirmed the 
union with Sweden, that the new constitution was 
modified, and that Charles XIII. was proclaimed 
king. After him came the Bernadotte family, 
Charles XIV., Oscar L, Charles XV., and Oscar 
II., whose reign began in 1872. 

The union of the two countries is peculiar and 
not very close. There is one king, who resides at 
Stockholm, but passes a portion of the year at Chris- 
tiania. The 'Council of State consists of two minis- 
ters of State, one of whom resides in each capital, 
and at least seven councillors, of whom five are in 
Norway and two in Sweden. On his accession to 



110 SOME THINGS ABEOAB. 

the throne the sovereign is crowned at Drontheim 
as King of Norway. Norway has a separate Parlia- 
ment, — the Storthing, — which holds the legislative 
power. Its members are chosen by deputies who 
are elected by the people. One-fourth of the mem- 
bers constitute the Lagthing, or Upper House, and 
the remainder the Odelsthing, or Lower House. 
Except in the foreign relations of the kingdom, the 
two countries are practically distinct. Each has its 
own language. The language of Norway has long 
been the Danish, although this is enriched by words 
from the old provincial dialects. The people prefer 
to call it the Norsk, and dialects derived from the 
old Norsk are found in the more secluded parts of 
the country. The currency has been made uni- 
form in the two countries. One hundred ore make 
one krone, and eighteen krones are equal to one 
English sovereign, or five dollars. But each coun- 
try has its own coinage. Each country has its own 
flag, and in one corner of each is the "Union mark" 
which constitutes it a national flag. But there is a 
deep unwillingness on the part of many to have the 
yellow of Sweden in the flag which floats on the 
Norwegian breezes, except when it is used for 
purely national purposes. Ole Bull was one of these, 
and would never unfold any but the Norwegian 
colors. We noticed that the boys in Bergen, when 
they played soldiers, marched under the banner of 
Norway. In Christiania the union flag was much 
more common. Indeed, we found that the political 
sentiments of the two sides of the country were fur- 
ther apart than their coast-lines. It was a time of 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. HI 

unusual excitement, and we had no difficulty in ob- 
taining information. So far as we could understand 
the position of affairs, there was a contest between 
the king and the Storthing touching the royal privi- 
lege. In ordinary cases the king has the veto power 
over the decrees of the Storthing. If, however, the 
Storthing passes a resolution three times, it becomes 
a law, even if the king refuses his sanction. The 
Storthing claims that this provision relates to all 
matters, even to the fundamental law of the land. 
The king, naturally, denies this. For if this is con- 
ceded, some day a Republic may be proclaimed and 
the king be deposed. He would hold his office at 
the will of parliament. It is claimed, on his side, 
that the Constitution is a compact between him and 
the people, and that it can only be changed by the 
consent of both parties. There seems to be reason 
in the claim. The king had in this contest thirty- 
two members with him and eighty-two on the other 
side. The majority of the Storthing claimed the 
right to have a militia, and voted supplies for this 
purpose. They also voted that the Ministers of 
State should be members of the Storthing. These 
were grave matters affecting the Constitution. The 
king refused to give his consent, and declared that 
these measures could not be passed without his con- 
sent. In this view he was sustained by his Council 
of State ; therefore the Storthing impeached the 
ministers and councillors. They did this, it was 
asserted by the king's friends, at a time when they 
had secured a court after their own mind. The 
trial was to be before the Lagthing and the Judges 



112 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

of the Supreme Court. The decision was not 
doubtful, it was said. But it was not clear how a 
new Council could be obtained if the men in office 
were to be removed. The king would not want 
men who agreed with the Storthing, and the Stor- 
thing would have no others. The Conservatives 
claimed that they had the greater proportion of the 
intelligence and property of the country; the office- 
holders Avould side with the power which appointed 
them, and the clergy would feel that they and their 
cause were safest on the royal side. But the num- 
bers were on the other side, and there were certainly 
among them men of the highest intelligence and of 
large property. There seemed to be, also, in the 
general contention, some who sought an extension 
of the liberty of speech on matters of religion ; but 
we did not find that this was prominent in the dis- 
cussion. Whatever was the result of this move- 
ment, we had little doubt that the authority of the 
people would prevail, as it has done elsewhere. The 
popular movements of our time set in one direction 
and with one result. It is not likely to be other- 
wise in Norway. 

As I write now I have before me the result of tlie 
trials which were impending when we were in Nor- 
w^ay. The trials lasted nearly a year, and eight 
ministers and councillors were declared unworthy to 
hold office, and each of them fined eight thousand 
krones and the cost of his trial. Their friends ral- 
lied to their assistance ; over twenty-five thousand 
dollars was raised by private subscription for their 
aid, and a public dinner was given to the deposed 



FROM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NORWAY. 113 

statesmen. The king filled their places with other 
men similar to those who had been removed, while 
the opposition were consulting over the expediency 
of trying to remove those whom their former efforts 
had not convicted and deposed. The end has not 
been reached. The king seems to have yielded 
something to the Radicals, and to have made up a 
Cabinet which is not entirely Conservative. But 
the popular movement will go on. Old claims will 
be asserted. At last the people will be in power, and 
will put their own meaning into the terms of the 
Constitution which declare that Norway is "free, 
independent, indivisible, and inalienable." To so- 
journers like ourselves there did not seem to be 
grave causes of complaint against the government, 
or evils which demanded severe remedies. The 
present king appeared to be administering the gov- 
ernment quite as well as kings in general do, and 
the country seemed to be improving upon itself, and 
increasing its material and intellectual wealth ; but 
larger things are sought, and we must hope that 
they will be secured. 

The Lutheran is the State church of Norway. 
There are six dioceses, or stifts^ each of which has 
its bishop, who is appointed by the government. 
On account of the connection of this church with 
the government, and its natural sympathy with the 
appointing and sustaining power, many of the people 
are not well inclined towards it. There are many 
other churches of different denominations, and these 
seem to have more spiritual energy. Tliey have 
been very active of late, and their work has had a 



114 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

large and deserved success. There is a generous 
distribution of religious literature among the people. 
The temperance reform has engaged the attention 
of the rulers and the people. The legislation is 
based on the principle of local option. The author- 
ities in each district may grant licenses for the sale 
of ardent spirits by retail, or may refuse to do so. 
They may, if they think it best, grant to a company 
a monopoly of this trade, with the condition that 
after the expenses of the business are paid, and five 
per cent interest on the investment, the rest of the 
profits shall be paid to the municipality. The latter 
method is more common in the larger towns. On 
Sundays and saints' days, and on Saturdays and the 
eves of festivals after five o'clock, the sale is for- 
bidden. The sale of wine and beer is carried on 
with restrictions which are less stringent. By these 
arrangements intemperance and its attendant evils 
are much less than they were but a few years ago. 
We hardly saw a drunken person in Norway. 

I have, perhaps, said enough of the general char- 
acter of the people. They are marked by their hon- 
esty and sincerity, and by the simplicity of their 
life, especially when they are living b}^ themselves, 
out of contact with the wider world. They bestow 
and respect confidence. They are polite and help- 
ful. Their hand-shaking and their Crod natd^n^ Far- 
vel are pleasant to the visitor. Their ways are often 
clumsy, and there seems to be a lack of enterprise ; 
but the stranger would be slow to change their 
methods lest he should mar them with his improve- 
ments. Their thoughtfulness is sometimes startling 



j 



FB03I NEWCASTLE TUBOUGII NOE[VAY. US 

in its simplicity. When we were on the Rands Fjord, 
a German lady carelessly allowed her shawl to fall 
into the water. No one of us saw any way of recov- 
ering it. We knew only the manners of other and 
prouder lands. But the honest Norwegian captain 
stopped the steamer, reversed the screw, and we all 
went back to recover the property, which was then 
at quite a distance from us. A boat was lowered, 
and the shawl was recovered and restored to the 
owner. That may have been an extreme act of 
courtesy, but it may stand as a sample of Norwegian 
kindness. 

The physical structure of Norwaj^ must have 
affected the character of the people. It has left 
them to a good degree isolated, and allowed their 
native virtues to flourish ; but, beyond this, the 
stern mountains and the dark valleys must have put 
their impress upon those who have lived for genera- 
tions among them. This may be seen in the stories 
of the ancient faith. One cannot be surprised at 
the grandeur and sternness of the Norse mythology 
who travels through the land in which it was con- 
ceived, and sees where the gods were born and 
where their deeds were done. This was no place 
for sportive divinities, or for the light fancies of a 
sunnier clime. The sombre and solid character of 
the land entered into the making of the people and 
the construction of their legends and their faith. 
The stories of Norway should be read in Norway. 
The sagas need the mountains. 

The emigration from Norway to our own country 
has become large. The Norwegians are excellent 



116 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

colonists and settlers, as we know. But in tlieir 
own land we could not help asking if so many stout- 
hearted and stout-handed men and women could be 
spared. The instinctive answer was in the nega- 
tive. But to ride through the country, to see how 
much rock there is in proportion to the soil, and to 
mark the evident poverty and hard struggles of the 
peasantry, removes all wonder that men seek a new 
home for themselves, — and especially for their chil- 
dren, — where life can have a larger hope under 
more generous conditions. The land is likely to 
have enough sowers and reapers for its narrow 
fields. A country which offers so little bread can- 
not blame those who seek a land of prairies and 
harvests. In a new land the character of the people 
will be modified ; but we may hope that they will 
preserve the virtues which are their honor and 
strength. We shall still be able to see the true 
Norwegian in his own home. Travellers will carry 
in their strange ways and corrupt the simplicity of 
the people. But it will be long before the charm 
disappears. The attractions of Norway are very 
fresh and great. The country is easy of access, and 
travelling is inexpensive and agreeable. In the 
years to come, Norway will be more frequented by 
the English, who are already there in good numbers, 
and by Americans, who are now rarely met. The 
continent will be the roaming-ground for its own 
inhabitants. The Germans are on foot, and are 
flocking into Switzerland in the summer months. 
But Norway remains for travellers from beyond the 
narrow and wide seas. The North Cape and the 



FBOM NEWCASTLE THROUGH NOBWAY, 117 

midnight sun will allure them in growing numbers. 
But many will be content with nearer things, and 
will pass a few weeks delightfully upon the southern 
fjords, and in the wonderful scenery about them, 
and in the cities and villages of the land ; while for 
the pedestrian, the sportsman, and the artist the 
resources in every direction are almost without 
limit. 



CHAPTER IV. 

FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 

The passage from Christiania was without special 
incident. We ran down the fjord, across Bohas 
Bay and the Skager-Rack, and in the early morning 
touched at Gothenburg, or Goteborg, the capital of 
the province of the same name, and in commercial 
importance the second city in Sweden. There was 
only time to go a little way up the quay, and with 
this step on the border of Sweden we were obliged 
to be content. Although it w^as Sunday morning, 
there was quite a stir around us. As usual, people 
gathered about the steamer, and some of them 
joined us as passengers. Other steamers were pre- 
paring to leave the harbor. A boy was busy selling 
papers, which appeared to be of a secular character, 
but which, whether sacred or secular, could be of 
small advantage to us. Far away a church bell was 
ringing in the day. But our path led from the 
church door, and we were soon on our way down 
the Cattegat. These days at sea were very restful 
after the hurried life in strange places, where we 
were compelled to make the most of every hour. 
They gave leisure for thought, for gathering up the 
threads and fastening them together, and for adjust- 
ing ourselves to the new scenes which were soon to 

118 



FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 119 

open upon us. About six o'clock in the afternoon 
we reached Kjobenhavn, Copenhagen, the '' Mer- 
chants' Haven." There was the usual bustle of 
the Custom House officials, which resulted in noth- 
ing but delay and annoyance, and then our luggage 
was put upon a dray which a man pushed along the 
streets. They gave us a very lofty position in the 
Hotel d'Angleterre, but we found a fine house, wor- 
thy of its reputation. The capital of Denmark is 
on the large island of Sjeland and the small one of 
Amager. The approach to the city through the 
narrow gateway, which is guarded by Elsinore and 
its castle of Kronborg, and then along the Sound, 
is very interesting. The capital itself is full of 
interest. The city is rich in public squares, and in 
churches, palaces, and other buildings. When we 
thought of exploring the great city, we w^ere pain- 
fully conscious that we had lost not only our pleas- 
ant companions in Norway, but also the friends 
there who had done so much to guide and assist us 
in a strange land. We were alone, and we knew 
neither the people nor their language. But we 
were able to get some advice, and we had the inge- 
nuity which had served us a good purpose on pre- 
vious occasions. First we visited the Church of 
Our Lady, where we saw Thorwaldsen's. statues of 
the twelve apostles, and other works from his hand. 
The church is large, but not especially attractive in 
itself. The exterior is very plain. Trinity Church, 
is famous for its round tower, which was intended 
for an observatory. The ascent is by means of a 
wide road which winds its upward way inside of the 



120 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

tower. It is said that Peter the Great went up this 
road on horseback, while Catharine went up in a 
carriage. We had a fine view from the top of the 
tower, and were able to form a good idea of the 
city. We walked in the Rosenborg Park, a place 
so much frequented by young children and their 
guardians that it is popularly termed the '^ Nursery." 
The university is four hundred years old, and has 
twelve hundred students and a body of able profes- 
sors. But we saw very little of academic life. We 
spent some time in the extensive Botanic Garden, 
with its palms and ferns, and many other appro- 
priate treasures. At night we mounted to the top 
of an omnibus-horse-car, which sometimes ran on 
the track and at other times on the pavement. This 
double arrangement seemed to be desirable, as it 
surely was practicable where the road lay partly in 
the city and partly in the country. We went out 
to the '^Tivoli," a public garden much resorted to 
by all classes of the people, and affording ample 
materials for a pleasant evening. The lonely citizen 
could there meet his neighbors, while the father of 
a family could give his household an outing at very 
small cost. There were a great many persons there 
at the time of our visit, but there was good order 
everywhere. Many sat in the open halls and lis- 
tened to good music; some watched the acrobats 
and bicycle riders in their performances. There 
were various exhibitions of various kinds, and each 
engaged the attention of a portion of the throng. 
Nothing was more novel to us than the Rutsch- 
banen. A double series of wooden hills and valleys 



FBOM NOBWAY TO ITALY. 121 

had been built, over and through which the traveller 
glides, as the book calls it. He first climbs a flight 
of stairs to a high platform, where he is placed in 
a car whose seat is wide enough for two or three 
persons, and is provided with a leather apron for the 
securit}^ of the passengers. The car glides swiftly 
down the first hill, and thus gains enough impetus 
to carry it to the top of the next hill, which is a 
little lower than the first. This process is repeated 
till the end of the route is reached, at the top of the 
fourth or fifth hill. The car is then drawn up to a 
higher level, which the passengers reach by stairs, 
when the journey is repeated in the opposite direc- 
tion. The motion is exceedingly rapid, and one 
can hardly breathe as he rides. He wonders what 
would happen if anything should break. He won- 
ders whether he is enjoying the ride or not. But 
on the whole the performance is exhilarating, and 
might form a profitable addition to our American 
picnics. This description is tame, but the thing 
itself is sufficiently exciting. 

There are two other places in the city which are 
of great interest. One of these is the Ethnographi- 
cal Museum, which has large and finely arranged 
collections illustrating the history and customs of 
many lands from remote times. Stone weapons, 
ornaments of bronze, and articles in iron and silver 
and gold abound, while there is a great quantity of 
coins from many countries and periods. 

The other place of special interest is the museum 
which bears the name of the sculptor of whom Den- 
mark is so justly proud. Thorwaldsen was the son 



122 SOME THINGS ABUOAB. 

of an Icelander, and was himself born at sea, be- 
tween Iceland and Denmark. But his name and his 
work belong to Copenhagen, where he studied when 
a boy, and which he enriched by his genius and 
generosity. He bequeathed to the city his collec- 
tion of works of art and the greater part of his 
large property, to establish and maintain the museum 
which is called after him. The museum was opened 
in 1846. The building is large and fine. On the 
lower floor are Thorwaldsen's own works in marble 
and plaster, and on the upper floor are other works 
which belonged to him. There are also personal 
memorials, which are of value from their association 
with him. There is seen, also, the work which he 
left unfinished. It is a bust of Luther, who was a 
fitting subject to engage the skill of the master. 
The head seems complete, but this has not wholly 
freed itself from the marble. In its condition it is 
like the man, for the work of Luther is not com- 
plete. It is further from perfection than we have 
been inclined to believe. The work is grand, and 
the head of it stands out in strength and beauty. 
But more is to be done before the spirit can have 
rest. The Reformation must advance until all 
things are free and true in the domain of religious 
thought and life. We honor the Reformers and 
their achievements when we carry forward what 
they left unfinished. As I think upon the stone 
which the sculptor left I am not sorry that it is 
incomplete. It is the better presentation of the man 
who wrought so mightily for the moulding of human 
thought and the widening of human life. 



FROM NOB WAY TO ITALY, 123 

In a court within the walls of the museum is the 
grave of Thorwaldsen, a rectangular mound enclosed 
at the sides and ends with stones which tell his 
name and the date of his birth and death. The top 
of the mound is covered with ivj^. Thus the great 
workman rests among the works in which he em- 
bodied his life, and which remain to do him honor. 
It is a good resting-place, and he is worthj' of it. 

We left Copenhagen in the afternoon and were to 
be in Lubeck the next morning. A thin mist was 
hanging over the islands, and a beautiful light was 
shining through it upon the city and the water. 
The effect was peculiar and recalled Turner's Ven- 
ice, and others of his dreamy pictures. Sea and 
shore seemed a fairy-land, serene and distant. We 
did not know what the splendor portended. We 
found out. Such scenes can be trusted to declare 
themselves. Soon the radiant mist thickened to an 
unsightly fog through which the steamer slowly 
groped her way all night, while the shrill whistle 
reached our narrow quarters to remind us that we 
were moving in the dark. Wlien morning came no 
land was to be seen, but how near or how far the 
shore was no one could tell. Seaman or landsman, 
we were equally lost. The lead and line were freely 
used, and at length thej^ warned the captain that he 
was as near the land as it was prudent for him to go. 
Accordingly, at his word the anchor went down, the 
fires went down, and the skipper went down for a 
nap after his long and anxious watch. The fore- 
noon wore away, but the fog did not. The whistle 
had lost its voice, and the tongue of the restless bell 



124 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

took its place and rang out its appeal. I suppose 
this was intended, like the blind man's lantern, to 
keep others from running into us. The hours were 
leaden. I thought of absent friends, and multiplied 
letters to them. We had simple amusements, but 
there was a dulness in all our play. Late in the 
afternoon the fog lifted, and we saw that we were 
very near to the shore. We had not stopped too soon. 
The land was very attractive just then, though I 
fancy it was, a very common piece of ground. The 
captain cameuip, and the anchor and the fires fol- 
lowed his example. The steamer started, but before 
we went down to supper the fog had returned and the 
anchor had dropped into its old place. Eating had 
become a matter of uncertainty. We were not pro- 
visioned for a long voyage. The good-natured Ger- 
man girls did their best, but there was a lean look to 
the table. White bread was scarce. There was an 
egg here and there. Melting the butter restored it 
to its original state, and gave us milk for our coffee. 
While we struggled through this miscellaneous meal, 
we heard the rising anchor once more. Then we 
moved on. After a time the boat stopped at a vil- 
lage and allowed any who wished to take the train 
and finish their journey where no fogs could in- 
terrupt it. We would not give up the ship, and 
early the next morning we were in Liibeck, twenty- 
four hours late. A day had dropped out and left no 
sign. There were few people astir, except money- 
changers and their clerks. These offered us induce- 
ments to give up our money for theirs, but we had 
arranged such matters with the captain on the 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 125 

steamer. We found our waj^ to the railroad sta- 
tion, which was very dreary at that hour, but we 
managed to get a cold repast, and then devoted 
ourselves to the study of the best route for our 
journey. Advice was freelj^ offered us, and we 
made our decision. We had satisfied the custom- 
house officials that the treasury of the empire would 
not be defrauded if we were allowed to pass on, and 
we took the train for Hamburg, and then again for 
Cologne. It was a long day's ride, but it was over 
at last. At Cologne the Hotel du Dome was in 
doubt of its ability to receive us. Pending the 
settlement of the question we turned into the 
cathedral. It was a good time for our visit. We 
looked up the majestic pillars and along the high 
arches in the twilight which gave an added mystery 
and grandeur to the place. The shadows deepened 
the solemnity as they crept through the stillness. 
The whole impression was enhanced by the service 
which was going on in a chapel, with the monoto- 
nous reading of priest and people, the singing of 
boys, and the rich, full tones of the organ filling the 
gathering gloom with melody. The next morning 
we went again into the cathedral and saw in the 
brightness what we had seen in the gloom. How 
grand it is, by night or by day ! Gothic architect- 
ure has its culmination in this church, which has 
been six hundred years and more in rising to its 
wondrous majesty and grace. It was a large faith 
which consented to toil so slowly for what was to 
last so long, whose completion generations of 
builders were to believe in and not to see. There 



126 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

was a service in the morning and in the evening. 
The beadle or sacristan — I do not know what his 
title is — properly warned us from the precincts 
where the few worshippers knelt about the officia- 
ting priest, but was not so much absorbed in the 
sacred rites that he could not sell us tickets which 
would admit us to the foot of the stairs which lead 
up into one of the high towers, and allow us to 
work our way upward as far and as fast as w^e chose. 
It was a wearisome ascent, and we were not repaid 
for our trouble. The glory of the house is not seen 
from above, but as one walks through its long 
aisles, and wanders about it on the outer ground. 
We paid afterwards a liberal fee for the poor privi- 
lege of passing along the lofty gallery and looking 
down into the interior of the church. But we were 
able to resist the demand for a larger gratuity which 
would have opened to us the Chapel of the Three 
Kings, and have brought us a few feet nearer to the 
shrine containing the bones of the Arabian kings, 
who were not kings so far as any one knows, but 
wise men from the East, whose relics probably do 
not rest in this gorgeous enclosure. We confess to 
a slight struggle between good sense and a desire to 
see all which we were told that we could see. But 
prudence turned the scale. We lost the imposition, 
but we kept our francs. Yet we were prepared to 
give our tribute of respect to the faith and desire 
of the Magi who have gained a place in sacred 
story : — 

'* For Gaspar and for Melchior and Balthasar, who from far 
Found Mary out and Jesus by the shming of a star." 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 127 

We yielded to the spirit wliicli we had resisted in 
the cathedral, and went to St. Ursula's — ''the bone 
church," as I heard a child call it. The house is old 
— so much is certain. The walls are crowded with 
bones which are wrought into many ingenious figures. 
Whether they are the remains of eleven thousand vir- 
gins whom the Huns killed is very uncertain. We had 
a priestly guide, who had no doubt or no belief on 
the subject. His manner would indicate either con- 
dition of mind. After all, what did it matter? Very 
likely, these relics never belonged to the women^for 
whom they are named. But they belonged to men 
and women, — or most of them did, — and they served 
a useful purpose in their time, and bore their part 
in martyrdom, it may be. There is always a pathos 
about the form which a living man has used and 
deserted; the dust which he lias laid aside. But life 
and the living are more attractive and helpful. In 
a steady and easy flow of words, with a scant use of 
periods, our attendant called our reverent attention 
to the skull of St. Ursula, and to other relics of the 
saint and her chief companions ; to a stone water-jar 
in which the water blushed into wine that a bride 
might not blush at her wedding-feast in far-away Cana 
of Galilee. Nobody knows where Cana was, or what 
befel the six water-pots of stone. It is not easy to 
think that this was one of them. He showed us thorns 
from the Saviour's crown, and assured us in the same 
tone or monotone that two francs and a half would, 
be a suitable reward for his services. We saw other 
churches — St. Gereon's, which commemorates the 
martyrs of the Theban legion who suffered under 



128 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Diocletian ; St. Peter's, with the crucifixion of that 
apostle for its altar-piece ; the work, it is claimed, of 
Rubens, who is said to have been born in a house near 
by. We marked the multitude of Farinas whose 
names stare from the front of so many stores, present- 
ing the perpetual conundrum, which is the only genu- 
ine and original maker of the perfume which has made 
the name of the city a household word. But among 
these things we could not linger. We passed the 
long day upon the Rhine. The weather was very 
pleasant, the steamer was large, and it was delightful 
to glide along the curving line of the shore, under 
the high hills, below the ruined castles, among legends 
and songs of war and of love, stopping at some of 
the towns on the banks, watching the people as the}'' 
were coming and going, enjoying every hour with its 
new scenes in new lights, till in the darkness, at nine 
o'clock, our voyage ended at Mayence. 

I cannot continue to trace our steps from day to 
day, but there are a few places, seen then or after- 
wards, of which I may make a brief record here. 

Strasbourg ''is a place that the tourist should not 
fail to visit," — so runs the guide-book. There were 
certain monetary reasons which enlarged the neces- 
sity that we should pause at this ancient city on the 
111. We found that the banker had locked his door 
and gone to dinner. It was the custom of the place, 
and had not been found susceptible of modern im- 
provement. We made a vain effort to persuade 
somebody to help us. It was an unheard-of thing 
to deliver money out of hours, and there was no 
help but in waiting. Indeed, our difficulty began 



FBOM JSrOJRWAY TO ITALY, 129 

earlier than this, when we chartered a guide to take 
us to the bank without loss of time. He too was 
under the influence of the hour, and led us promptly 
to the door of a restaurant. Our French seemed a 
long time in making an impression upon his preoccu- 
pied sensibilities. So we lost the train we meant to 
take. It was to no purpose that we had disregarded 
the advice of the Mayence porter and made a very 
early start. We were stranded in the middle of the 
day. But it was in a very good place. We readily 
found bur way to the cathedral, which stands around 
the Strasbourg clock. It was not Cologne : but it 
was a house full of grandeur, one of the finest of 
these fine Gothic buildings. It stands where there 
has been a church since the days of Clovis, the son 
of Childeric. This house was founded eight hundred 
years ago and more. The lofty spire, with its uncer- 
tain height but its unquestioned beauty, has a lone- 
some look without the mate which should have been 
placed beside it. It has the more interest in that, 
when its designer had left it incomplete, the work was 
carried on by his son, and afterwards by his daughter. 
Some of the fine work of Sabina is also found within. 
What wonderful results can be produced in stone, if 
the workmen or workwomen have skill and patience ! 
Those old builders were as noted for their patience 
as for any other quality. They used time over their 
designs. They were sure of the centuries, and in 
this assurance laid out their work. If the genera- 
tions passed awa^y, the plans remained, and other 
hands could move them slowly towards their fulfil- 
ment. If money failed, as it had a way of doing. 



130 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the years would last, and more money would grow. 
Bat patience only comes with age. It needs not a 
little absorption in one's work to be willing to com- 
mit it to other hands, desiring only that it should be 
done. Work for the work's sake ranks among the 
higher laws of building, whatever the material may 
be. The old minster illustrates and enforces the 
principle. The unfinished cathedrals are a witness 
to a large purpose, and one which could wait. 
There were many persons moving about while 
we lingered in the sacred sublimity and elegance. 
Some of them were peasant women with the Alsatian 
ribbons on their heads. The long black bows seemed 
in keeping with the ancient house. It was interest- 
ing to watch tliem as they came in. Their first resort 
was to the font of holy water. We saw two sisters 
enter together ; we judged them to be sisters. One 
dipped her fingers into the water, and then touched 
the hand of the other. It was a simple and natural 
communication of grace. 

Whatever else may be seen at Strasbourg, the 
ordinary visitor will be certain to see the famed 
cathedral clock and to give to it a full measure of 
wonder. The present clock is only about forty 
years old, but it has the place of one which was 
constructed three hundred years ago. The puppets 
march and divide the hours, and their appearance and 
disappearance are waited for, albeit their motions are 
not quite life-like. The noon, when the full proces- 
sion appears, is a time of high importance. The star- 
ing company wait and watch and deem themselves 
rewarded. This is all vulgar, of course. Why 



FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 131 

should grown-up men and women care for a sense- 
less show like this? The question is asked with a 
sneer at the popular taste. Well, let it pass. What- 
ever be the aesthetic judgment, the people will 
look at that which interests them. The Strasbourg 
clock does interest them. They can appreciate it. 
Doubtless there are more visitors who can take in 
the mystery of the moving figures than there are 
who can detect "the amalgamation of the German 
and French manners " in the architecture of the 
cathedral, or properly estimate the splendor of the 
glorious wheel window with its forty-two feet of 
diameter. But some can do all this. For the rest, 
people have some right to know what pleases them, 
and to enjoy what is suited to an innocent taste. 
They may be trained to something higher. Mean- 
time let them possess their pleasures in peace. To 
us there was not much illusion in the high structure 
in which the planets hold their place. There was 
even less when we had seen two men ascend the 
stairs and enter into the clock, and heard the Satur- 
day windings by which suns were to rise and men 
were to move. But it will be long before the 
traveller fails to seek the huge wonder in the corner 
where it has so long done its work. 

In the ceiling of the cathedral we noticed many 
empty holes. There was no one to tell us their 
meaning, but we conjectured that they once held 
the standards of the French banners which the Ger- 
man war had removed out of their place. 

From Strasbourg let us pass to Baden. They call 
this Baden-Baden, because there are other Badens. 



132 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

It is on the border of the Black Forest. We had a 
long ride among the dark trees, in a car which 
allowed us to look freely upon the district through 
which we were passing. The tops of the hills have 
few trees, but lower are pines, and maples, and 
beeches, which are supported by the thick, dark 
groves of fir. Among the rocks are found gold, 
copper, iron, and other minerals, while mineral 
waters spring up generously for the invigoration 
of the visitors who resort to them. The manufac- 
ture of w^ooden clocks and music-boxes and similar 
things has formed the leading industry of the 
people. 

Baden-Baden has been a place of fashionable 
resort since the time of Antoninus and Aurelius. 
The Romans seem to have enjoyed the springs. 
They left behind them tokens of their presence, 
which have been placed in a museum for the delight 
of later generations of health and pleasure seekers. 
I do not know that there is any natural connection 
between mineral springs and gambling, unless it is 
the leisure which is afforded by the one and em- 
ployed by the other. There is high authority for 
believing that idle hands readily take to mischief. 
Baden-Baden had the most renowned gaming-houses 
in Europe. But these were closed in 1872, with 
other institutions of their sort throughout Germany. 
The town remains, and throngs still resort to it and 
enjoy its pleasures ; but its power and occupation 
are gone, which is for the advantage of everybody. 
It is a very attractive town, with its fine streets and 
noble trees. The Kursaal, a large park in the cen- 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 133 

tre of the town, is a charming place for a leisure 
hour. A small admission fee is charged, and then 
the visitor is free to wander where he will. There 
is good music in the d'dj and evening, and it is very 
restful to listen to it while sitting before the showy 
stand or strolling over the grounds. There are 
many stores in the park, and these are brilliantly 
lighted at night, so that their windows present a 
dazzling array of goods of many kinds. Gold and 
silver ware, and glass in many colors and more 
designs, allure and tempt the passer-by. There is 
something in all this, — in the place, the people, the 
music, the gay shops, the absence of horses and 
carriages, the general air of quiet and sense of 
pleasure, — which constantly reminded us of Venice 
and the Piazza of St. Mark. What can be said 
more of the luxury and delight ? The large Trink- 
halle suggests its purpose in its name. It had a 
deserted appearance at the time when we were at 
the springs, but in the season must be full of life 
and of the effort to make life more desirable. The 
Conversationhaus is more than would be inferred 
from its prolonged title. It has an immense assem- 
bly room, though we saw none flit over its polished 
floor ; and a very inviting library and reading- 
rooms, which drew many persons among the books 
and papers. There are very pleasant drives about 
the town. The Lichtenthale Alice is a long avenue, 
shaded with tall trees, and bordered with groves 
through which run winding paths leading to charm- 
ing places of rest. This road is a special feature of 
the town. As we went along this avenue, we came 



134 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

upon a fragment of our home life. We found the 
flag and the name of our own country, commendmg 
to the people of these foreign parts '' The Great 
American Circus." It may have been American: 
it certainly was not great. There were two ele- 
phants, two forlorn camels, a meagre array of horses, 
with gayly caparisoned riders, and an immense car on 
whose perilous summit rode the bespangled queen of 
the enterprise. I do not know whether the pa- 
geantry impressed the people of Baden with the 
magnificence of the republic, or not. But it drew 
after it a long train of men and women, boys and 
girls, even as it would have done in its own national 
domain. 

Castles are not a rarity in the region where they 
are the remains of a different order of things from 
that which now prevails. Baden-Baden has the 
ruins of the old castle where the Margraves lived 
and ruled. The broken walls stand on the summit 
of the Schlossberg, and afford a wide view over the 
town and country beneath. The ruins are open to 
all travellers and without price. This is a fact 
deserving of notice. The peculiarity is in some 
measure balanced by a neighboring restaurant, for 
which patronage is requested but not demanded. 
Furthermore, when the visitor has ascended as far 
as he cares to go, he sees, leaning over a railing 
above him, a man. There can be but one reason for 
his presence there. It is possible to mount to his 
level, and on this possibility he evidently depends 
for his livelihood. To venture higher is to pay for 
his useless presence and worthless services. The 



FROM NOBWAY TO ITALY, 135 

wise do not disturb his meditation on the beauties 
of the landscape. But he shows no signs of regret, 
or of anything else. It is not hard to fancy him a 
part of the ruin : one wliom time has forgotten and 
left behind, and v^ho now lingers on the poor stage 
which a living creature would desert; or, if he did 
not desert it, from which he would descend nearer 
to the victims, who could not then escape him. At 
the new castle, which dates from 1479, there is a 
venerable keeper who is more alert. He is so dig- 
nified and courteous that a novice would either 
shrink from offering him a fee for his pompous 
attentions, or else make the gratuity so large as to 
disturb his equanimity. The experienced traveller 
commits neither mistake. The new castle, as it is 
termed by comparison, is not so high an elevation as 
tlie old. But it is high enough. In this castle the 
Grand Duke sometimes resides in summer. In his 
absence the stranger may see where he dwells when 
he so elects. He will be much more impressed by 
the parts of the castle which are now untenanted, 
but which forcibly suggest the misery, the agony, 
once endured within their narrow walls. These 
dungeons are small but dark and awful. Hope 
must have been left at the outer door when the" 
prisoner entered their chilly gloom. There is the 
small room in which the secret court sat to condemn 
its victims. TJie places of the judges' seats remain. 
From that relentless tribunal the condemned were led 
aw^ay, often under the pretence that they were to be 
released. They were brought before a small figure 
of the Virgin, and told to kiss the image. While 



136 ( SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

t'hey pressed their lips upon the form which repre- 
sented their sole reliance, perhaps their deliverance, 
the floor dropped from beneath their feet, and they 
sank into a deep well upon the knives which were 
not more merciless than those who appointed them 
to their office. All that is over, so we say standing 
there. No ; all is not over. ''There is a God." 

We came up from the caverns, our candles were 
extinguished, and we returned into the light of day. 
The gay throng was moving through the pleasant 
streets. We were in the present, which has broken 
from the past, — the light-hearted present from the 
oppressed and oppressing past. 

The Villa Solms is a fine house in the town, 
somewhat castle-like in its architecture and fur- 
nished in the style of the middle ages. We found 
an obliging man in charge, and enjoyed roaming 
over the whole building, and seeing the attempt of 
a family of our age to reproduce the surroundings 
of another. A little further up the hill on which 
the Villa stands is a Greek church, or chapel, con- 
taining several fine monuments. The marble antici- 
pated the need of it in some instances. There Avas 
a beautiful statue of a mother who was then living, 
which was hung with black in memory of her son. 
This was carrying realism further than we had 
before seen it, and opening the household grief to 
the public compassion. One or two priests whom 
we saw appeared to be having an easy life on this 
height, where they could read and meditate, with no 
cares to vex them and few duties to interrupt them. 

The last word which I can write of Baden-Baden 



FBOM NOB WAY TO ITALY. 137 

must be in praise of its beauty and its many attrac- 
tions. 

A veiy different place is Niirnberg, Nuremberg. 

**Iii the valley of the Pegnitz, where across broad meadow-lands 
Else the blue Franconian mountains, Nuremberg, the ancient, 

stands. 
Quaint old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town of art and 

song, 
Memories haunt thy pointed gables, like the rooks that round 

them throng." 

It is getting into the past to enter this old town. 
It was a conspicuous place in its day. Emperors 
resided there, and patrician families administered 
its affairs. It was the seat of manufactures and the 
home of art. It has been termed the '' Gothic 
Athens." This glory has largely passed away. 
The trade in lead-pencils and toj'S is extensive, so 
that the town has^a commercial importance. But 
too much of the antiquity has already been rubbed 
off. This is a pity. Yet mucli remains. The medi- 
aeval architecture preserves its peculiar attraction, 
and many of the newer buildings have copied the 
old and picturesque style. Tliere is an ancient look 
upon the town, and upon the separate parts of it, 
— the streets, bridges, churches, fountains, castle, 
liouses, — so that it stands as a well preserved frag- 
ment of the middle ages. The river, which has been 
already named, divides it in two parts, which are 
nearly equal. Each of them has its great church, 
and its saint, from whom both precinct and sanctu- 
ary take their name. St. Sebald and St. Lawrence 
share the honors of the divided municipality. Each 



138 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

has his " side." The churches are both in the hands 
of the Protestants, so that ecclesiastical rivalry does 
not bring in confusion. 

St. Lawrence's Church is the largest and finest in 
the town. It boasts six hundred years, and stands 
in its Gothic nobility unmoved in the passing of the 
centuries. The muUions in its towers present the 
symbol of the saint whom Valerian laid upon 
the gridiron. The front is rich in sculptures. The 
Virgin and the Child are on a pillar between the 
doors, while around and above them are repre- 
sented various scenes in our Lord's life, while Adam 
and Eve, with prophets and apostles, illustrate the 
sacred storj^ We noticed that over the head of 
the Christ in the Crucifixion and in the Last Judg- 
ment a dove was hovering, the sign of the Spirit 
which was and will be upon Him. There are two 
other doors of wonderful workmanship, elegant in 
form and rich in decoration. One bears the name 
of the bride's door. The interior of the chnrch is 
adorned by splendid windows. One, which is called 
after the Volhauser family, is hardly surpassed in 
Europe in its marvellous coloring and admirable 
design. But there is nothing more striking than 
the tabernacle, the sacramentshauslein, where the 
wafer of the sacrament was placed. Shall I quote 
again ? — 

"• In the church of sainted Lawrence stands a pix of sculpture rare, 
Like the foamy sheaf of fountains rising through the painted air." 

It is a structure of stone which, tapering as it 
rises, reaches a height of more than sixty feet. The 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 139 

top bends over, as the top of a tall fir-tree bends in 
a strong wind, and tlie end turns under in a grace- 
ful curve. The plan is perfect, and the execution 
faithful to the last detail. The light form of all the 
parts, and the open-work with its delicate tracery, 
give a charming grace and beauty. Around the 
base is a low gallery, or platform, where the officiat- 
ing priest could stand. Above the recess for the 
bread the chief events of the Passion are appropri- 
ately represented. The Christ is seen taking leave 
of the mother whose soul is soon to be pierced. 
The Eucharistic Supper, the Agony in Gethsemane, 
the Scourging and Crucifixion, and the Resurrec- 
tion, are all portrayed in the almost living stone. 
Under the whole fabric, as if bearing it upon their 
shoulders, are the kneeling figures of Adam Krafft, 
the sculptor, and the two apprentices who wrought 
with him. Five years of thought and skill are 
enshrined in this notable creation of human genius 
working with high purpose for a sacred end. The 
work was completed in the year 1500. Seven years 
later, the old artist died in great distress in a hospi- 
tal at Schwabach. But in his work he lives in 
honor. 

St. Sebald was distinguished among the German 
saints of early times. The legends make him the 
son of a Danish king, and his English name we 
know as Siward or Seward. He went through Ger- 
many as a missionary, and finally made his home in 
Nuremberg. This is not the place to recount his 
miraculous deeds. Indeed, I have not many to 
recount. He came one day to a hut where he had 



140 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

often rested, and fonnd the family freezing. He 
had icicles bronght in and cast upon the scanty 
coals, when the room was filled with warmth. 
When the lord of the city had put out the eyes of 
the saint's servant, who had obeyed his master but 
disobeyed the lord, the saint gave the poor man his 
sight again, as he seems to have been bound to do. 
The church on the north side of the Pegnitz bears 
the name of the saint. It is a superb building with- 
out and within. It carries five centuries and more, 
and bears the weight of heavy and elegant sculpt- 
ures. At the west end, on the outside, is a colossal 
bronze statue of Christ, which is one of the oldest 
works of its kind in the city. In the interior archi- 
tecture may be seen the transition from the round 
to the pointed style. The windows are narrow and 
high. In a chapel is a very old bronze font in 
which Wenzel the Emperor w^as baptized, and 
which is more noted as being the oldest Nurem- 
berg casting now remaining, if fame is to be 
credited. It would be expected that the shrine of 
St. Sebald would be a prominent feature of his 
church. Peter Vischer and his five sons con- 
structed it, with thirteen years of labor. It is of 
bronze, in the richest Gothic. Slender columns sus- 
tain a canopy of fretwork, and underneath, in a 
cliest of oak, encased in silver, are the relics of the 
saint. At the sides of the columns, standing on 
brackets, are statues of the twelve apostles. The 
figures are much admired for their naturalness and 
expressiveness. Over them are twelve fathers of 
the church in smaller figures, while over these are 



FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 141 

leaves and flowers, with cupicls and mermen, and 
living creatures of different sorts. In bas-reliefs 
under the sacred chest the miracles of the saint are 
set forth : the burning icicles, the broken kettle 
mended by a blessing, the stone which was changed 
to lead, and the rescue of a man whom the earth 
was swallowing for his unbelief. At one end is a 
figure of Sebald, and at the other of the artist in a 
mason's dress, with a chisel in his hand. In the 
statue of Sebald the saint is represented as a pil- 
grim with shell and staff, rosary and wallet, and 
holding in his left hand a model of his church. The 
entire structure has a fantastic support upon the 
backs of snails. 

Near the church is the parsonage-house, whose 
chief attraction is an oriel window of singular 
beauty. 

The Church of Our Lady, the Frauenkirche, has 
a great treasure of sculpture and a fagade of great 
beauty. The Gothic portal, with its elaborate orna- 
mentation, is the notable feature presented by this 
ancient edifice. This is the Roman Catholic Church 
of the town. 

Back of this church is the goose market, where 
enough copies of this bird can be bought to save 
any number of Romes. The geese are alive at the 
time of the sale, and are fastened with withes of 
straw to the baskets in which they have been brought 
from the country. The market was in good order 
when we saw it, and the selling was chiefly per- 
formed by women who were in the peasant cos- 
tume, which it is always a pleasure to see. We Avere 



142 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

drawn to the market by the fame of the "goose 
man." He turned out a much more insignificant 
fellow than we expected to see, — simply a small 
figure of bronze, having under each arm a goose 
from whose open bill the water was spouting in a 
feeble stream. 

But near by stands the ''Beautiful Fountain," 
which is really an imposing affair. It is a pyramid 
of stone, eight-sided, Gothic in style, and rising to a 
height of fifty-six feet. It is very old, and was 
originally covered with painting and gilding. It 
has been restored and is still an interesting work. 
It is surrounded with twenty-four statues, full- 
length, seven of which are for electors of Bavaria, 
nine for heroes, Christian, Jewish, and pagan, and 
eight for Moses and the prophets. The town has 
many other fountains, each of which has its own 
merits and its own patrons. 

Portions of the old walls and towers of the city 
remain, a witness to the military strength and con- 
sequence which have passed away. Between an 
outer and inner wall is a deep, dry ditch which 
makes a very good place for gardens. We drove 
out of the town to St. John's Churchyard. Along 
the way, at regular intervals, Avere seven pillars of 
stone, each of which presented in bas-relief an event 
in the Passion of the Redeemer. A citizen named 
Ketzel, four hundred years ago, made two journeys 
to Palestine, and brought back the necessary meas- 
urements for reproducing in his own town the Via 
Dolorosa of Jerusalem. The sculptures were made 
by Krafft, but they have been defaced in the course 



1 



FROM JSrOBWAY TO ITALY. 143 

of the years. Some have been restored, and traces 
of the original beauty of the work can still be seen. 
We found a kind woman in charge of the church- 
yard. She would have known our errand if we had 
not told her, and she led us promptly to the two 
graves which we had come to see. We had seen the 
houses in which Diirer and Sachs had lived, and 
would see the places where they were laid when life 
was over. We stood by the grave which is called 
Albert Diirer's, and are now told that it is no longer 
tenanted by his dust. It was a great life he lived. 
He reached what we should call his majority in the 
year that Columbus reached these Western shores. 
He was architect, and painter, and sculptor. His 
works abound and are his monument. He was de- 
voted to his profession. It is a pity that the daughter 
of Hans Fritz, to whom his father wedded him, should 
have worried a man who had cares enough without 
her. In his last portrait the flowing hair in which 
he took an honest pride is wanting, and the lines of 
care are drawn over his face. At last he died, and 
now no man knows his grave. But a monument, 
with a bronze statue, has been erected by the people 
of Nuremberg, who delight to preserve his name and 
fame. There is also a monument to Hans Sachs. 
He was born in 1494, and became a cobbler. He 
went to Munich, where he learned to make verses 
and to sing them. It is said that he wrote six thou- 
sand poems of various dimensions. He was one of 
the meistersingers. These were an association of 
master tradesmen whose object was to revive the 
minstrelsy of their country, which had fallen with 



144 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

the decline of the minnesingers, the low minstrels. 
They chose subjects for the most part of a religious 
or moral character, and pursued their art by fixed 
rules. The three chief meistersingers were Hans 
Rosenbliit, an armorial painter; Hans Folz, surgeon 
and barber ; and Hans Sachs. He died in his eighty- 
second year, having gained the name of ''Honest 
Hans Sachs." He liad done much to help on the 
Reformation by his writings. It will be noticed that 
the men whom Nuremberg holds in special honor 
were men who served their town by their useful 
lives. Not high birth, but high service, made their 
lasting renown. It speaks well for the place. Can 
I do better than to copy familiar lines once more ? — 

**Here, when Art was still religion, with a simple, reverent heart, 
Lived and labored Albreclit Diirer, the Evangelist of Art. 

'' Here Hans Sachs, the cobbler-poet, laureate of the gentle craft. 
Wisest of the Twelve Wise Masters, in huge folios sang and 
laughed. 

**]N"ot thy Councils, nor thy Kaisers, win for thee the world's 

regard ; 
But thy painter, Albrecht Diirer, and Hans Sachs, thy cobbler-bard." 

We paid the requisite fee for admittance to the 
German Museum. No reluctance was shown in re- 
ceiving it. It was hardly out of our hands before 
we were told that the time had come for closing the 
building. Why? It was the time when they closed. 
There was but one course to pursue — to see what 
we could in a few minutes, and to return another 
day. There is the usual collection of antiquities in 
their accustomed variety. These are always ijiterest- 



FROM NOB WAY TO ITALY, 145 

ing, and often more. We saw abundant illustrations 
of the land and its history. You would expect to 
find many of Diirer's paintings, but they are not 
there. One of his best works remains, in the por- 
trait of his patrician friend the Burgomaster Holz- 
schuher. There is also a striking painting by 
Kaulbach — " The Openiiig of the Grave of Charle- 
magne by Otho III." 

The highest position in the town was naturally 
given to the castle. It is a rambling collection of 
buildings which have survived their usefulness. 
Some rooms are occasionally used as a royal resi- 
dence, but the buildings as a whole are on exhibition. 
There is no lack of attendants, and there is no 
danger that the gratuities which they accept will 
be less than they are entitled to. The inhabited 
rooms are commodious, and there are, of course, fine 
views from the windows. No one know^s how old 
the castle is. In fact, it belongs to no single time. 
It grew as it was needed. A portion of it is thought 
to be older than any other building in the town. 
The castle has a double chapel, or two chapels one 
above the other. The upper one was used by the 
seigneur and his family, the lower one by his retain- 
ers. They date from the eleventh century. The 
chapel proper is small and bare, but sermons must 
be imbedded in its stones, and some things besides 
sermons. There are fiiie pillars which, if legend is 
to be trusted, were brought from Rome by Satan 
himself, who was outwitted by a monk who said the 
Litanies with unparalleled rapidity, and was honored 
with an effigj in testimony to his success. In the 



146 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

castle yard is a lime-tree whose straight trunk reaches 
a height of tliirty-four feet from the ground, and has 
a diameter of five feet. The tree has a historic in- 
terest;, for tradition tells that it was planted more than 
eight hundred years ago by Cunigunde, the daughter 
of Siegfried, and the wife of Henry 11. of Germany, 
Emperor and saint, founder of schools and monaste- 
ries. The Empress had once proved her innocence 
by w:alking on red-hot ploughsliares, and in 1201 she 
was canonized. Her tree has received great care, 
and is still flourishing in its old age. 

In one building is a famous well. A venerable 
woman is in charge of this, and on her authority I 
give its depth as three hundred and thirty-five feet. 
She did all in her power, short of a personal descent 
or actual measurement, to impress us with the truth 
of lier figures. She poured water from a dipper and 
bade us listen till it struck the water below. It was 
a considerable interval. She lighted candles and 
lowered them into the darkness and then with a 
mirror threw the reflection of the lights upon the 
surface of the water. We were convinced that it 
was a very deep well. It must take the truth a 
long time to come up from such depths, and this 
may explain some tales one hears. We found the 
water refreshing, and, having recompensed the 
attendant for her pains, passed to less pleasant^ 
places. In different rooms connected with the 
castle are kept the instruments of correction and tor- 
ture which have come from cruel times. Some of 
them are not without their merit, rude as they were^ 
We could not use them now, yet every one must 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 147 

fiave seen a person on whom he could consent to 
have them tried, gently and briefly. Such were the 
head-pieces for scolding men and women, and the 
ducking-cage for incorrigible beggars, and the pillory 
in which the contentious man and wife stood side by 
side, eating with one spoon from the same dish. We 
have so far eliminated the element of shame from 
our punishments that the penalties we inflict have 
lost half their proper terror. We would not bring 
back the curious devices by which quiet and peace 
were sought. But we looked with horror upon the 
inventions by which men sought to torture others, 
oftenest better men, to their own purposes. If cru- 
elty has any monuments and memorials, they are in 
the dungeons which were built not very long ago, 
and the instruments wliich were the ally of the 
prisons. We saw them at the old castle. They 
are curiosities now^ yet, as one thinks upon their 
uses and their powers, he almost hears the groans 
which went up to heaven but found no resting- 
place on earth. We saw the rack on which men 
were stretched and beaten ; the wheel on which 
they were broken ; the sword by which they were 
beheaded, and even the chair in which they sat to 
receive the stroke. Ingenuity had labored that 
tjYSinnj might grow fat on blood. Most cruel of 
all, in appearance at least, was the Iron Virgin. 
It is of wood, lined with iron, and roughly 
represents the form of a woman. It is seven 
feet high, and its front is divided into two 
doors. The interior is pierced with long, sharp 
S]3ikes, or iron poniards. The bed where the con- 



148 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

demned person, man or woman, passed the last 
night stands in a corner of the room, and on the 
wall is the crucifix which received the last kiss of 
penitence and appeal. The dread doors of the Vir- 
gin opened, and the victim was thrust within, where 
all the space was thus filled. Then the doors were 
shut upon him, into him ; pressed in and held in 
place by a bar of iron. The end could not have 
been long delayed. Then a sliding door was drawn 
from under his feet, and the mangled body sank 
into a deep well, where its destruction was com- 
pleted, and the pieces found their way into the 
river. The cruel woman will never be used again. 
But it is well for us to see of what men have been 
capable. 

Not far from Nuremberg is Bayreuth, the home of 
Wagner, where, in the building which he prepared, 
his music is performed. Many resort to the place to 
hear the music in its home. The story of Percival, 
or Parsifal, was presented to throngs of listeners at 
the time of our visit. 

While we were in Nuremberg we stayed at the 
Baierischer Hof. It is an old house, and lacks 
many things with which a more modern hotel is 
furnished. But the table was good, the company 
agreeable, and there was a general desire to make 
the guests contented. We passed a Sunday there. 
The reading-room of the hotel was transformed into 
a chapel, where service was held after the English 
form. The congregation was small. So was the 
sermon. It is not well to be critical of preaching. 
It is a rare discourse which does not have some- 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 149 

thing helpful in it. But the summer chaplains who 
are sent from England to the hotels of the Continent 
are seldom very edifying. They have the impres- 
sive church service in which it is good to join. 
There seems to be little reliance placed on the 
preaching. Yet there is no reason why the two 
should not be combined. There is certainly admi- 
rable preaching in many of the English churches. 
This is so common that it cannot be claimed that 
the sermon is of small account. The wonder is that 
men of thought and reading, with a knowledge of 
the world and its affairs, who are very interesting 
and instructive in conversation, can consent to be 
so stupid in the pulpit. The Nuremberg discourse 
was on the net which was cast into the sea and 
gathered of every kind. In a manner which would 
have prevented any success in fishing, so lifeless was 
it, the bearded preacher described the way of using 
the net, and pictured the conduct and emotions of 
the entangled fish. The lessons were serious ones, 
but it must have been with greater powers of per- 
suasion than he employed that the saint drew the 
fishes by his call. This man was quite animated 
afterwards at the table, where his conversation indi- 
cated more of spirit and truth. He may be a dili- 
gent man in his parish and a model to all the 
country round. But why does he not carry his 
enthusiasm when he goes upon his travels? It may 
be that some found in his words the spirit which we 
missed. Let us trust that it was so. 

From the old to the older. We left the train at 
Schaffhausen and were driven in an omnibus to 



150 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Neubausen, and the Schweizerhof, which we found 
a most attractive house. The large dining-hall has 
one side of glass, through which the falls of the 
Rhine can be seen. The broad piazza affords a 
broader view, and one which is enchanting. An 
extensive garden, or grove, is below the house, and 
through this there are pleasant walks to the shore. 
It is delightful to watch the river as it breaks upon 
the rocks which divide it. There is not the volume 
of water which is found in some places, nor does the 
stream descend from so great a height as some 
others. But the rush of the swift waters is full of 
energy and grace. We crossed the river by the 
bridge and were received at the Castle of Laufen 
for a consideration. We saw what the house had to 
present in the way of armor and paintings and curi- 
osities of various kinds. We found the customary 
souvenirs in ivory and wood, penholders and pencils, 
paper-cutters, match-boxes, and photographs; with 
the usual microscopic pictures which are calculated 
to amuse the youthful mind. We found that even 
this tumultuous nature was fenced in for private 
emolument, but we responded to all demands, and 
encased ourselves in rubber coats, and stood where 
the spray was thick about us. We returned by a 
rowboat which took us nearer to the leaping stream 
that we might better see and feel its force. We 
could have climbed to the top of an island which 
stands firmly in the midst of the waters. It did not 
seem desirable to do this. We had many views of 
the falls. At night they were illuminated with 
lights of several colors, and their appearance was 



FEOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 151 

very novel and charming. The stranger wonders 
at the unaccustomed generosity which provides for 
him this glowing scene. His admiration is some- 
what chastened in the morning when he finds a 
practical reminder of the display in a single line of 
his bill, where the scene is sketched by a master 
hand. The illumination is less brilliant when set 
forth in black and white. But he paid for looking 
out of the castle window, and lie pays for the splen- 
dor which he has enjoyed but not ordered. These 
are the trifles of travel. There is a sameness in 
them as one journeys from place to place. There 
were, however, two novelties at this hotel. One 
w^as the waiter-girls, who were dressed in the becom- 
ing Swiss costume, and made a simple but pleasing 
feature of the place. The other was the special 
request that no fees should be given to the ser- 
vants. We fancied that as much as we deducted 
from the usual payment, so much they deducted 
from the usual attention. But we fared very well. 
The brief visit is delightful in the retrospect. This 
was one of the places where we longed to linger for 
days and days in the quiet, amid the beaut}', with 
everything to minister to eye and heart. But we 
kept moving. 

We gave more time to the Lake of Lucerne, the 
Lake of the Four Forest Cantons. Lucerne itself 
is a place of much interest. Two of four bridges 
across the Reuss, which here leaves the Lake, belong 
to another time. The roof of each is decorated with 
paintings. Li the one these represent scenes in the 
life of the patron saints of the town, and events in 



152 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the history of tlie country. In the other they illus- 
trate the " Dance of Death." It is not very easy to 
see the pictures, but they deserve examination. 
Joining the historic bridge is an old tower where the 
archives of the town are kept, and where the fabrics 
which belong to the place can be bought. Lucerne 
abounds in hotels, and in those of a superior char- 
acter. They are finely situated, where they overlook 
the best of the Swiss lakes with its fair waters, and 
beautiful banks dotted with pretty villages, and the 
stately mountains which shut it in and keep guard 
over it. The old Hofkirche, with its slender twin 
spires, the fine organ and pulpit and windows, and 
the churchyard by its side, fits into its place per- 
fectly, and makes a convenient landmark by which 
the town can always be recognized, even in the little 
pictures which find their way abroad. The market- 
place of Lucerne is full of life and stir. Almost 
everything is for sale in the booths, and around them 
are the contributions from the farms. The winged 
creatures cackle and struggle in their baskets, and 
wait, with the fruits of many kinds, to be bought 
and consumed. The traffic is to a large extent 
carried on by women, who are as worthy of notice 
as their goods. This is the every-day life of the 
people. We were amused in watching a rustic belle 
who had on the back of her head a long showy pin, 
much ornamented, and in shape very like a flattened 
spoon. Something, — it looked like cotton, — was 
braided into her hair. She was neatly dressed, as she 
knew, and she also knew that she was pretty. So did 
the young soldiers whom her charms drew in her 



FROM NORWAY TO ITALY. 153 

train. It would have made a capital sketcli ; the back- 
ground, the girl, the martial admirers. These bits of 
genuine life are charming. But the most noteworthy 
thing in the city hardly needs to be mentioned. 
Everybody knows the Lion of Lucerne, who is alone 
in liis peculiar renown. Since 1821 he has stood out 
from the rock of which he is a part, without " pawing 
to get free." His rest is of course appropriate, see- 
ing that he is the representation of the soldiers of 
the Swiss Guard who fell while defending the Tui- 
leries. In his vast proportions he is the symbol of 
courage, devotion, heroism even in death. The 
broken lance is at his side, but his spirit is not 
pierced. The inscription underneath tells the mean- 
ing of the monument. It is in a retired and lovely 
spot. Trees and vines overhang the rock, and at its 
base is a pool fed by a stream which runs down at 
one side. The lion needs to be seen from many 
points, that his grandeur and beauty may be appre- 
ciated. It was a happy thought to construct it 
directly opposite a large store where models and 
photographs of all sizes and qualities can be pro- 
cared, with the endless variety of forms into which 
the cunning hands of the Swiss carve their wood. 
The street which leads to the Lion is bordered with 
shops which are devoted to the same purpose. The 
country is lavish of its trees, and certainly transforms 
them into lovely shapes. Xear the Lion is a garden 
to which admission can be gained in the usual 
method, where there are wonderful memorials of the 
ice-period. The great rocks are worn smooth by the 
glaciers, while there are numerous deep holes which 



154 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

have been cut into the rock by the stones which the 
waters liave driven round and round, in strength and 
patience. There is a chance, also, to see a fine relief 
map of Central Switzerland, which gives a clear idea 
of the mountains and lakes. Photographs of every- 
thing are amiably dispensed by the young woman in 
charge of the exhibition. If the visitor wishes, he 
can examine relics from the lake-dwellings, and walk 
among the animals of the Alps where they are 
arranged in natural and unnatural ways in their 
stuffed and harmless condition. 

It is a pleasant sail upon the lake, when it does 
not rain. Many boats are steaming up and down, 
touching at the various ports all the way to Fluelen. 
A few days can be spent agreeably at any one of 
these lake-side villages. From the houses which are 
on the hills, as at Axenfels and Axenstein, beautiful 
views are obtained, and pleasant walks are easily 
taken in the fine air. The regular thing is to stop at 
Vitznau. The little town itself has an inviting look. 
We strolled into the village church. It was plain 
and humble. But before the altar stood a bier cov- 
ered with black cloth, decorated with the cross, and 
over it the skull and cross-bones. Around the bier 
were unlighted candles. It seemed that the archer 
whose arrows are more certain than Tell's was 
haunting even this quiet retreat. Vitznau is chiefly 
important as the lower terminus of the Rigi railway. 
The station is very near the pier. A train usually 
consists of one car and the engine. The car goes 
ahead in the ascent and the passengers usually ride 
backward as they go up. One side of the car affords 



FBOM NOUWAY TO ITALY, 155 

much finer views than the other, and there is a 
scramble for that side. There are many impressive 
sights on the ride. The point of chief interest is 
where the road crosses a ravine seventy-five feet deep 
on a bridge which rests in the middle on two iron 
pillars. They are quiet moments when the train is 
creeping over those deeps on that frail structure, and 
the traveller looks far down into the abyss over 
which he trembles as he moves. Through the pro- 
jecting rock is a tunnel eighty-two yards long. 
There is a great deal of travel on this road, and the 
cars are often uncomfortably crowded. But most 
persons are good-natured, and as they are thrown 
together from many lands they form interesting ob- 
jects for the survey of one another. There are frag- 
ments of conversation which are entertaining. We 
were amused at hearing a young soldier, whose 
knowledge of the English language and literature 
could not have been extensive, declare his preference 
by saying, "I do not like Shakespeare. I like Mark 
Twain." Plainly, there are different avenues into 
the world of English letters. 

The first station of any consequence on this Rigi 
railroad is Kaltbad. There is a hotel at the station, 
but only a little removed is the Rigi Kaltbad Hotel, 
which is the fashionable house of the mountain. 
The house offers the attractions common in a place 
of popular resort, and at rather high prices. The 
nobility make it their headquarters. The Prinz 
Georg von Preussen was occupying a goodly por- 
tion of the large building at the time of our arrival. 
But we were taken in, and allowed to hover on the 



156 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

coast of aristocracy and listen to the band in one 
evening and morning, when we flitted off on a branch 
of the railroad and found a much more agreeable 
house at the Rigi First. No one seemed to regret 
our sudden withdrawal from the fashionable world, 
and we were certainly gainers by it. We entered a 
fine house, charmingly situated, with elegant appoint- 
ments, and a landlord who cannot be excelled. The 
courtesy and attention of Mr. Humbel left nothing 
to be desired. It was a real pleasure to us wlien, a 
year afterwards, we could again put ourselves in his 
care. 

It is not common for American travellers to stay 
long upon the Rigi. Yet few places hold out more 
inducements. The name is more inclusive than is 
usually supposed. The Rigi is a group of moun- 
tains between the Lake of Lucerne and the Lakes 
of Zug and Lowerz. The circuit of the group is 
about twenty -five miles. The height of the peaks 
above the Lake of Lucerne varies from forty-five 
hundred to nearly six thousand feet. There is, how- 
ever, one member of the group to which the name 
Rigi is commonly limited ; and this is the place of 
chief resort for those who would gain the extended 
view, and especially the glory of the sun-rising. To 
witness this daily phenomenon is the restricted idea 
associated in the popular mind with the ascent of the 
Rigi. For this purpose every night during the sum- 
mer raises a throng of visitors to this commanding 
spot. Something is expected of the sun in his 
setting, when the whole stretch of hill and plain is 
bathed in glory. But the interest culminates at 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. 157 

dawn. The Alpine horn summons the expectant 
sleeper from his bed, and the houses are soon full 
of hunting men and ^Yomen. A unanimity of 
purpose and sentiment prevails. In all kinds and 
degrees of attire the visitors hasten from the doors 
to stand upon the brink of the summit, or upon the - 
small tower which lifts a few persons a little nearer 
to the sky. There they wait, cold and impatient, 
j^et eager and hopeful, for the spectacle. They see 
the darkness grow thin and roll away. The stars 
disappear. The light begins to glimmer in the east, 
and to brighten the multitudinous peaks through a 
circumference of three hundred miles, and to make 
them resplendent with its " orient pearl." When 
•the sun has ascended, the whole expanse is full of 
his splendor. Within the cordon of mountains one 
sees thirteen lakes, large and small, with towns and 
villages in every direction : each a cluster of white 
objects, with one larger than the rest raising its 
humble roof and spire among them — the church 
among the homes. No one can ever describe this 
scene or depict its surpassing grandeur and beauty. 
The watcher feels repaid with usury for his untimely 
rising, and treasures up what he looks upon with the 
vague intention of telling what he has seen. This 
is the region of vain hopes. But the reality is en- 
joyed and remembered. All this at which I have 
hinted may be. It has been. Sometimes it is all 
found. Yet there are few things that speak more 
confidently to the ear, and treasure more frequent 
disappointments for the heart. The impenetrable 
clouds do not always look kindly upon the intruder, 



158 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

and they have a sullen way of saying so. They are 
quite in the habit of spoiling the picture they could 
not paint. They settle down upon all the country 
around, and quietly defy the sun. There is no help. 
The pilgrim who has squeezed from his mortgaged 
days this one morning hour for doing the Rigi has 
little to show for his lavish expenditure of time, 
unless he can find it in staring at a mass of vapor 
and grumbling at the failure of his enterprise. He 
cannot wait for a happier time, and he turns his 
frowning face towards the waters which he left in 
expectancy. He may be able to draw some pleasure 
from the sellers of wooden ware ; but it hardly pays 
to come up so high for what can be found in the 
valley. The truth is that the Rigi demands time. 
It simply refuses to be hurried. Wait on its leisure, 
and it will be gracious. When the sky is clear the 
broad top of the mountain offers attractions which 
will employ many hours and repeated visits. I do 
not refer to the place itself, but to the opportunities 
it presents. I do not mean the opportunities wliich 
are nearest and most clamorous, which cluster around 
more stalls and stands than one wishes to count, 
and hide out of the sunshine under the huge white 
umbrellas, and keep company with the men, and 
women, and youth whose entire interest is in you 
and in their minerals, flowers, pictures, paper-cutters, 
stamp-boxes, watch-cases, and thermometers, jewelry 
and trinkets of ingenious device, all bearing the sig- 
nature of Rigi. I do not forget that these centres 
of traffic receive a disproportionate share of atten- 
tion, and that travellers from the far West turn away 



FROM NOBWAY TO ITALY. 159 

from the wonders of nature to the marvels of art — 
if this is art — and linger too long around the money- 
changers who have ventured into the temple. Every- 
body does it. But there are finer and rarer things 
waiting on every hand. The hours pass too rapidly 
as the visitor swings around the circle, and studies 
with his glass the scene which is outspread beyond 
and beneath him. The snow-covered Alps lift up 
their peaks which crowd one upon another, each 
with its own name and worth, while they stand as 
the strong guardians of the valleys, which are so far 
below that high hills sink to the level of the fields 
about them and the lakes which nestle and glisten 
among them. 

The Rigi Kulm, which is the place most fre- 
quented, is but one of the attractive points. From 
other places there are different but hardly less im- 
pressive views. Indeed, it is only by standing in 
many positions that any complete idea of the sur- 
rounding country can be gained. The scene varies 
as the spectator moves. Mountains come in sight 
that have been concealed. The light falls at ever 
varying angles as one passes from height to height, 
and the shadows pass on with him. Besides such 
changes are those which the clouds make, as these 
constantly change. Whether the sky is clear, or the 
light clouds are floating in deep blue, the vision is 
full of delight. While there is discomfort in being 
quite shut in by mist, there is a peculiar charm when 
the clouds lie beneath you, and you look down 
upon them from an uncovered spot. Sometimes the 
valley will be so completely filled with the vapor 



160 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

that it looks like the Mer-de-Glace, and one almost 
fancies that he could walk upon the frozen sea. The 
traveller will be well cared for at the hirge hotels at 
the Rigi Kulm, or in the others which have been 
mentioned, from which there is easy access to the 
summit of the railroad. The branch road on which 
the Rigi Fir^t stands runs to the Rigi Scheideck, 
wliich is a place much resorted to, especially by the 
Germans. The position is isolated and lonely, but 
the views are very fine. Connected with the hotel 
is a small chapel which is used by both Catholics and 
Protestants. There may be seen the altar of the 
Romish Church, and the Prayer Book of the English, 
with the Bible. The place is high enough and far 
enough out of the world for this outward friendship. 
In a basin among the mountains, reached by a 
short walk down a steep road from the Rigi First 
and other points, is the Klosterli, a humble monas- 
tery of the Capuchins with a corresponding hospice. 
The number of monks in residence seemed to be 
very small. We noticed that one venerable ecclesi- 
astic, when he had entered the door of the hospice, 
or sanatarium, looked through the window at the 
side upon the ladies who were visible, with as pleas- 
ant a smile as if the joint vows of sanctity and celi- 
bacy were not upon him. It must be a lonesome 
life they lead in this valley from which nothing can 
be seen but the surrounding hills. It must be more 
comfortable in the winter than places further up the 
hills. Pilgrimages are made to the chapel, and the 
herdsmen have special recognition in the services. 
The sacred house was well furnished with the usual 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY. \Q\ 

votive tablets and the waxen effigies of arms and 
legs which have been restored. There are two 
hotels, the Schwert and the Sonne, but there was 
nothing inviting about them except the probable 
cheapness of board. 

A more interesting chapel to us was St. Michael's, 
which is near the Kaltbad. It is a very small stone 
building, standing among immense rocks, boulders 
perhaps, which almost hide it from view. A narrow 
path between the rocks leads to its door. The 
chapel was erected by two sisters, who found refuge 
at this spot from a persecuting ruler when Albert 
was king. Before the door is a spring, which used 
to be called Schwesternborn, There are votive tab- 
lets, one of which tells the story of the two pious 
women, and there are other memorials of a humble 
but expressive character. Yet that which arrests 
attention, and especially interests the English or 
American visitors, is the marble tablet placed in the 
wall by Dean Stanley in memory of his sister. The 
tablet has her medallion portrait upon it, and bears 
her name and her brother's, with a brief recital of 
the circumstances which placed it there, while her 
grave is in England. She spent much time on the 
Rigi and derived good from its pure air, and was 
blessed as a worshipper in this modest temple. At 
the bottom of the tablet are these sentences from 
the Vulgate : — 

Levavi ociilos meos in montes, unde veniet auxUium inihi. 
Requiescat in monte sancto tuo. 



162 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Beyond the chapel is a pleasant park, with the 
Kanzli, a pavilion which is finely placed for a sur- 
vey of the mountains and lakes. 

We had the Rigi weather in most of its varieties. 
It cannot be said that it is pleasant to be on a 
mountain through successive days of rain. A very 
congenial company might make it tolerable. We 
had our fine house filled for the most part with 
strangers and foreigners, regarded from our point of 
view. They may have regarded us as interlopers. 
We had little to do with them, for several reasons. 
As usual in such places, the evenings were the hard- 
est to dispose of. Our associates tried to amuse 
themselves but seemed to find it hard work. While 
they were sufficiently noisy at other times, they 
carried much solemnity into their play. One night 
they had a New England game, spinning a plate or 
cover, and imposing a forfeit when it was not caught 
before it fell. . There was some levity while the 
cover was passing from hand to hand, but the for- 
feit was adjudged and paid almost as if a magistrate 
was administering the statutes of the canton. Even 
the dancing was performed with the gravity which 
usually attends more serious affairs. Yet they 
seemed happy and kind, and probably supposed 
they were having a very good time. The liveliest 
person of all, the leader, was an Italian lady, who did 
her best with her more ponderous followers. 

Sunday was as other days. Men sat over their 
beer. Chess and checkers held their place ; at night 
there were fireworks and dancing. Everything was 
done naturally, apparently. It seemed to no one 



FBOM NORWAY TO ITALY, 163 

that there was a more appropriate way of celebrat- 
ing the Lord's resurrection. The fire-balloon from 
our house responded to the fire-balloon from the 
Kaltbad. There was no excitement; no excessive 
mirth : and no further recognition of the day as 
separate in meaning from other days. There were 
services in the parlor of the Kaltbad, but there were 
few in attendance. It was not New England — 
may New England never be like that ! 

We did ]iot see much of the natives at home. 
One night a few Tyrolese musicians entertained us 
with national songs and other musical devices, 
including the yodel, and quite as much by their 
personal appearance and deportment. Even upon 
these something of the wide world had passed, and 
had done them no good. They would have been 
more pleasing to us, and perhaps to themselves, in 
their native simpliaity, and the habits of their moun- 
tain life. But doubtless they esteem themselves 
profited by the glimpses of society which they catch 
in their professional tours. 

We left the Rigi First with regret. A man and 
boy carried our luggage on their backs, and we 
attended them on foot down the declivity to the 
Klosterli, where we took the train which runs on 
that side of the mountain, and came down to Goldau, 
where we took the train from Lucerne, and at night 
we were at Locarno, on Lake Maggiore. 



CHAPTER V. 

IN NORTHERN ITALY. 

We had come by the St. Gothard Railway, that 
wonder of engmeering, and the ride Avas one of sur- 
passing interest. We were much crowded in our 
small car, but nothing could destroy the pleasure of 
the ride. The long line of rails winds up and down 
the mountain, within and without, winding through 
cpvered tunnels, turning upon itself and making 
loops with the tracks, and thus surmounts the 
height and descends into the valley. Only a draw- 
ing could make this plain, and that could do it but 
imperfectly. The road illustrates the changes by 
which the Alps of other days are passing away, and 
travel surrenders its romance for ease. Is anything 
really gained? The old St. Gothard pass was 
famous in its time, and the grandeur is still there. 
But "Europe in sixty days " prefers the iron road. 

We were at the Italian Lakes. They are called 
Italian, yet some of the villages among them belong 
to Switzerland, though even these have the Italian 
character. The boundary between the two coun- 
tries, which is often crossed, is made evident by the 
scarcely ornamental encumbrance of custom-house 
officers, who examine bv intuition whatever comes 
in their way, and cannot collect enough in tribute to 

164 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 165 

pay for their worthless services. I would speak 
more emphatically were it not that the traveller has 
more trouble at the American custom-house than at 
any other. We shall outgrow this in time. Photo- 
graphs of Swiss mountains cannot seriously endan- 
ger American art, nor will our silk-looms be made 
idle by the stray dress patterns from France. 

Of the shapes and sizes of the Italian Lakes the 
maps will give much better information than any 
writing. It may be well enough to say here that 
Lake Maggiore is about thirty-seven miles long, and 
four to five miles wide according to the place of 
measurement. It is nearly seven hundred feet above 
the sea-level. Locarno is one of the Italian towns 
that belong to Switzerland. It has some two or 
three thousand people. The streets are quaint and 
interesting, and the lemon and orange trees and 
luxuriant vines make more beautiful a place which 
is beautiful for situation. My walk in the early 
evening brought me to the door of an old church in 
which I found a few persons at their devotions. The 
house was dim, almost dark, with the three lights 
which were burning. A distant voice, which sounded 
like a woman's, was reciting the prayers, which 
elicited a faint response. The place, the hour, the 
gloom, and the few voices speaking when the persons 
were nearly or quite invisible, made the service very 
impressive. 

The next morning we came by steamer down the 
lake to Baveno. We meant to stop there for an 
hour or two. We were taken captive. The beauty 
of the place, the perfect serenity of lake and land, 



166 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the charming influences of a charming spot, were 
more than we could resist. We confided our feeling 
one to another, and the desire to remain was found 
to be common. The air was very soft, the clouds 
had their most delicate beauty, the hills were green 
in hospitality, the lake was sparkling in greeting. 
A man could not work there, but for repose nothing 
could be better. The one stately building of the 
town is the Villa Clara, which stands in a fine park. 
A park may well be fine in such a climate. The 
Villa has its special interest in the fact, found in 
other places and never concealed, that it was for 
a few days a royal residence. In April, 1879, the 
Queen of England passed three Aveeks as its guest. 
We visited a church which claims to have been 
founded A. D. LXVIIL, and the adjoining chapel of 
John the Baptist. On the outer wall is a picture of 
the baptism of Christ. The cloister is decorated 
with crucifixion scenes. There is also a " sepulchre," 
in which is an image of the Saviour. This is about 
four feet long and lies in a glass case, with an angel 
at the head and at the feet holding candles. It is 
hideous, of course. It may be that there are persons 
who are affected for good by such attempts at 
realism. It seems almost necessary to suppose so. 
What looked like a monastery is connected with the 
church, and near by is an asylum for children. 

Between Baveno and Pallanza lie the Borromean 
islands. On Isola Bella Count Borromeo, two hun- 
dred years ago, built a chateau, and covered the 
rocks on which he placed it with terraced gardens, 
richly furnished with trees and flowers, and adorned 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 167 

with fountains and statues. A part of the showy 
house has fallen, but most of it remains, with doors 
which can be opened with a silver key. We con- 
tented ourselves with a distant view, and the story. 
There are also on the island hotels, which seem to 
be chiefly restaurants. The Isola dei Pescatori be- 
longs to fishermen, as its name leads one to infer. 
The islands are a pleasant teature in the lake. They 
would be worth exploring if there were leisure. 

The mellow bells were ringing early in the morn- 
ing. But we could not stay. We waited as long as 
we could, and then took the steamer up and across 
the lake and landed at Luino. It is a favorite place 
for summer visitors, but we were tourists. Not 
Garibaldi's statue, nor the silk-factories, nor the 
ruins of the Borromean Castle could detain us. We 
took a carriage immediately and drove to Lugano, 
on the lake of the-same name. Tlie lake is smaller 
than Maggiore, but its banks are pleasant and well 
adorned. The groves are delightful to look into, 
and the buildings among them have an enchanting 
look. Lugano is a large town, with six thousand 
people. We found comfortable quarters amid a 
variety of associations. The hotel was once a gov- 
ernment building. There is a monument to the 
architect, Canonico di Tesserete, and a marble bust 
of General Dufour. These adorned the stairway. 
Finally, the house is named '' The Washington." 
In these distinguished surroundings Ave took up our 
temporary abode. The town has a busy look, with 
its arcades, and workshops, and paved streets. But 
something of its renown disappeared with its nionas- 



168 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

teries, nearly all of which have been suppressed 
many years since. We visited the Church of S. 
Maria degli Angioli, which has survived the depart- 
ure of the house to which it was attached. The 
chief attraction of the church is in the works of 
Luini. He was the follower, if not the pupil, of Da 
Vinci, and his works are deserving of admiration. 
They may be found at Milan, Como, Florence, and 
elsewhere. This church at Lugano has a fine fresco 
by him of the Crucifixion. The figures are numer- 
ous, and represent different scenes, making an im- 
pressive picture. There is one fresco of The Last 
Supper, and another of the Madonna. When we 
had spent the allotted portion of time, we took ship 
once more and went up to Porlezza, at the head of 
the lake. The attractions at this place, according 
to the best authority at our command, were a cus- 
tom-house and a harbor. The latter we had entered, 
the former we had no desire to enter. It is also 
mentioned that Porlezza can be left. We acted on 
this hint and availed ourselves of an omnibus, which 
took us safely, if not comfortably, to Menaggio on 
Lake Como. The Romans called it Lacus Larius, 
and Virgil was pleased to write : — 

*' Onr spacious lakes, thee, Larius, first." 

Mau)^ agree with the line from the Georgics, as 
they glide on the pleasant waters, past vineyards 
and gardens, mountaiDS and forests, and the showy 
villas alono' the banks. The lake is thirtv miles 
long, but Yery narrow. It was refreshing to sail 



IN NOBTHEEN ITALY, 169 

upon it. For the roads of Italy are not free from 
trouble. The dust of Italy is as the dust of other 
lands. No classic memories can make it agreeable. 
It may blow from plains where emperors have 
walked, along roads which imperial armies have 
trodden; but it is still dust, insinuating, persistent, 
disagreeable. Italian suns may look down upon the 
orange groves and chestnuts of to-day, on the ruins 
of temples and tombs, but its beams in midsummer 
are as hot as if they fell on the vulgar fields or paths 
of western lands. It was good to escape to the 
cool breezes of the lakes which for centuries have 
been giving rest and life to weary men from many 
climes. 

Menaggio has its Grand Hotel Victoria. It is not 
especially grand, but it has a fine outlook across the 
lake and out upon the banks beyond. The house 
boasts a steamboat pier, at which the passing 
boats stop when they please. When they do not 
elect to do so, the numerous boatmen improve their 
opportunity and carry the traveller to the regular 
stopping and starting place, which is not very far 
away. Menaggio has its silk-factory, and little 
besides which is its own. We chartered the row- 
boat of a willing proprietor who carried us across 
to Bellagio, which is much more of a place. It 
stands superbly at the end of the promontory which 
stretches up into the lake, and divides the lower end 
into two portions. It luxuriates in hotels, which is 
an index to its character. Any one can see by the 
maps that it is a place to be sought. It has a thriv- 
ing business in wares of different kinds, and each 



170 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

visitor bears away a cup, or box, or knife, with the 
name of the town upon it, that he may not forget 
where it came from. So tenacious are associations ! 
Of course we strayed into an old church, but there 
is nothing more to be said of it. 

We left Menaggio the next morning at one of the 
hours when the steamboat did not stop at our pier. 
We were loaded into a large boat which took us to 
the steamer, and we came to the southern end of 
the lake and stopped at Como. Como could be 
described, if there were space, even though we did 
not remain there. We read that the Pliny s were 
born there ; that there is a fine marble cathedral, 
with several hundred years upon it, and handsome 
windows within ; that there are twenty-four thou- 
sand inhabitants, and more ; and that the town is 
environed by mountains, save where the waters of 
the lake rest upon its shores. It has a railroad sta- 
tion, also, and with that we were just then more 
concerned. For some of our party this was not the 
first visit to the lakes, and those had enough influ* 
ence to draw the others away. It was hard to turn 
from the fair, alluring, rewarding waters. 

While we are on the way to Milan, let me insert 
a few disconnected remarks. We found the Italians 
whom we met very talkative, even noisy. In their 
intercourse among themselves the}^ fairly blustered, 
and any one watching them would think they were 
angry, when really nothing was meant by the 
threatening manner. We had men with the air of 
, brigands to wait on us at table, and to show the 
candy and gloves in the stores ; but they were harm- 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 171 

less and considerate. It was a rare thing to see a 
fine-looking man or a handsome woman. Some of 
the girls had fair faces. They seemed in general 
kind and light-hearted; slow, and not inclined to 
go out of their way to meet trouble. Women wash- 
ing clothes on the shores of the lakes made a com- 
mon sight. Now and then a man was seen in the 
same occupation, which might have been indefinitely 
pursued. They had a board at the water's edge, 
with an upright board Avhich formed a sort of box 
near the upper end. Kneeling on this, within the 
box, the women scrub and pound. It must be good 
exercise, and more helpful to them than to the fab- 
rics they manipulate. These are small matters. 
Yet there is an interest attaching to the people of 
any land, who should be seen at home to be truly 
seen. They blend with the pictures which the mind 
carries away and often looks upon. 

It may be doing some one a good turn to say that 
while in Milan we stayed at the H8tel de TEurope. 
The picture of the house which we cut from the 
head of our bill presents the edifice in a brilliant 
red hue. The picture is misleading. There is 
nothing remarkable about the exterior. But we 
found it a very convenient and comfortable house. 
It is very near to the cathedral, which is an advan- 
tage. It has on the wall of the reading-room an 
immense painting of a carnival, which serves to 
amuse leisure moments. The souvenir presented 
to the parting guest is a photograph of this paint- 
ing. I believe that the landlord figures as one of 
the participants in the national sport. 



172 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

A proper caution was exercised in admitting our 
company of five persons into the Capital of Lom- 
bardy, where an archbishop has his seat, and an 
army corps its headquarters ; where art had flour- 
ished and been rewarded ; a city with suburbs and 
more than three hundred thousand residents ; where 
the making and selling of silks and woollens and 
other things is upon a large scale, and prosperity 
has descended from generation to generation. The 
railway station is out of town, either for its own 
security, or for the safety of the city. Frescoes and 
sculptures and custom-house officers have combined 
to make it attractive. Even our luggage received 
attention in the excess of hospitality. It was duly 
examined and adorned with a label which seemed to 
give us the right of entrance into the city. It was 
not quite so. At the gate an alarmed officer looked 
into the omnibus in which we were making slow 
headwaj^ towards our hotel, that he might be cer- 
tain that neither the nation nor its treasury would be 
defrauded if we were allowed to move on. On a 
later day, when we were returning from an excur- 
sion into the country, a cautious officer passed 
through the horse-car in which we were entering 
the city, but was able to find nothing which looked 
suspicious except a small basket which a child held 
in her hand. He gave his whole mind to that for a 
time, and after proper deliberation decided to take 
the responsibility of allowing the girl to go through 
the gate. Yet all his care might have failed to 
detect the tobacco or fire-arms which the basket 



IN NOBTHERN ITALY. 173 

might have contained. A dog has been made a 
smuggler before now; why not a young girl? 

But we were always admitted to the guarded pre- 
cincts. It was worth far more than it cost to be 
there. For some of us it was not the first visit ; to 
all it was crowded with delight. Every one knows 
the treasures of Milan, and many have described 
them with pen and pencil. Their work need not be 
repeated here. Yet the pen refuses to pass on until 
it has told its own story in few and unadorned sen- 
tences. First, the Cathedral. The simple mention 
of it presents to the reader's eye the magnificent 
house of Mariae Nascenti, whose statue rises above 
it. The marble house has been tarnished by wind 
and weather, but its wealth of ornament remains. 
Over its broad roof we walked as on a floor, among the 
ninety-eight gothic turrets, and more than two thou- 
sand statues which look out from niches and off from 
pinnacles. These statues have been carefully made, 
and all the workmen in stone appear to have remem- 
bered that " the gods see everywhere." We found 
men replacing some of the carvings which had fallen 
under the burden of years and the assault of storms. 
It has been often and truly said that the front of the 
Cathedral is not high enough for its place. It should 
seem to be springing into the air instead of settling 
down to the ground. But it is only at the front that 
this impression is received. The interior, as a wdiole, 
is surpassingly fine. I mean that it was so to me, 
despite all which critics of architecture say. I know 
that architectural claims are not satisfied. I have no 
doubt that German taste affected Italian taste. I 



174 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

am sorry for the pitiful and deceptive paint and 
plaster ceiling, where honest and graceful stone 
should be. When all has been said, I modestly 
maintain the superior grandeur and beauty of the 
Milan Cathedral. Its fifty-two pillars, twelve feet in 
diameter with capitals of canopied niches tenanted 
by marble statues, above their lofty summits branch 
into the arches which form the majestic vault over 
the mosaic floor. It is hard for a layman in art to 
think of anything better than this. The vastness of 
the whole structure impresses him as he walks 
through the nave and its four aisles, and the transept 
with its naves and aisles while the light which longs to 
reveal the stately and delicate beauties of the house 
clothes itself in glory, and in an exuberance of color 
passes through the immense windows and illumines 
the radiant glass. I never saw golden light until I 
saw it there. "- The poetic beauty of the interior," 
and the "magical brilliancy of the marble splendor 
of the exterior " are apparent to the trained eye and 
the untrained imagination. 

Like all cathedrals, this needs to be seen many 
times and under varying conditions. In the broad 
sunlight it can be studied in detail. But its charms 
appear when the light of the full moon is upon it, 
silvering the pinnacles and arraying their saints in 
white, and setting the towers in bold relief upon the 
shadows. It is like a palace built by all the fairies. 
Within, it must be seen in the morning light and the 
evening shadow. A day might well be spent in 
watching the progress of the light from morning to 
evening, or catching the changing effects which it 



IN NOBTHERN ITALY. 175 

produces among the columns and arches. I cannot 
lose one picture. It was early, and the sunlight was 
entering by the upper windows and flooding the 
house wdth gold. At a side altar were a priest and a 
few worshippers. At that moment the light from a 
single window in the dome fell upon the group. It 
transfigured them, and framed them in, and the little 
company stood in the glory which was but wide 
enough to cover them, and separate them from the 
dimness which was about them. They did not know 
that the brightness was upon them, but we who were 
beyond could look in and admire. 

On Sunday w^e attended the morning service in 
the Cathedral. It was less impressive and instruc- 
tive than the house. The performances of men must 
needs be feeble in the presence of such majesty. 
Only the highest grandeur of simple worship, and 
the strength and beauty of loftiest truth, could 
stand where art has wrought her wonders, and the 
centuries have added their renown. I can readily 
conceive that those who w^ere more familiar with 
the place, and better able to comprehend all which 
was done, may have enjoyed the service more than 
strangers could. A procession was moving through 
the Cathedral when we entered. We hired rush- 
bottom chairs, and secured good places for them. 
It was not favorable to the spirit of worship to 
be interrupted by guides, who sought to beguile us 
into the places of secret treasure. There was the 
usual High Mass. The music was poor. There was 
a sermon by an old man with a good voice, and it 
seemed to be a good sermon. The frequent repeti- 



176 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

tion of " Christiana Carita " told us his theme. He 
preached for some time, then took his seat for a 
moment, after which he arose and proceeded with 
his discourse. He sat once more, and sitting said a 
few words, whereupon men began to go about with 
bags for money, while the preacher again, stood up 
and talked. He was teaching charity by an object - 
lesson, which is the best way. There was a large 
attendance, and people were coming and going all 
the time. As a religious service it was far inferior 
in value to that which was found that day in many a 
humble meeting-house in the New England hills. 
The Cathedral has its sacred curiosities, some of 
which are to be seen in the treasury. It has a won- 
derful candelabrum of bronze, mediaeval in age and 
style. It is sixteen feet high, and rises in the form 
of a tree, with branches and leaves. Dragons are at 
its feet, and clusters of figures adorn it, or make it 
instructive in sacred history. The whole is finely 
finished, and jewels enhance its beauty. 

Out-of-doors there was little to remind any one of 
Sunday. Most of the stores were open, and the 
streets seemed as busy as on other days. The steps 
of the Cathedral were encumbered with persistent 
merchants who sought to exchange pictures which 
nobody wanted for silver which everybody wanted. 
Apparently their efforts were not remunerative. 

Milan has many things to show to the stranger. 
The large arcade or gallery, with its imposing faQade, 
its roof of glass, its fine frescoes, and its fine stores 
with windows all full of temptation and deljght, 
is in itself an attraction. In the light of its two 



IN NOETHERN ITALY, 177 

thousand gas-jets the place is very brilliant. But 
this is new. It is the old which the traveller seeks. 

The Brera gallery has pictures, and books, and 
casts, and other ancient and modern works, which it 
opens to the stranger. Then there is the Ambrosian 
library, with its books, and manuscripts, and other 
literary treasures, with paintings and engravings. 

The Church of St. Ambrogio is reputed to stand 
where once Bacchus had a temple which none too 
soon was destroyed. The church is very old and its 
gates claim to have been those which Ambrose 
closed against Theodosius. The emperor had sent 
an army of barbarians against Thessalonica to 
avenge the killing of some of the officers of his 
garrison. The people were invited to the circus, 
and there slain by thousands. Ambrose refused to 
admit the guilty emperor to the church until he had 
performed a fitting penance. The emperor yielded, 
endured the penance, and the doors were opened. 
It is to the credit of both that they were fast 
friends after this. But the church rejoiced that 
it had maintained its authority over the state. 
Why should not these be the gates which an 
emperor's crime closed and an emperor's peni- 
tence opened? It is not very long since A. D. 
889. The iron crown which used to be put on the 
heads of kings and emperors in this church is now 
in a casket over the altar of the Cathedral of Monza. 
Should not Milan keep the gates of St. Ambrose? 
His church has one relic about which there is no 
doubt. It is the brazen serpent which Moses lifted 
up in the wilderness for the healing of his smitten 



178 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

people. The Scripture saj^s that it was broken in 
pieces by King Hezekiah because the people did 
burn incense to it. But here it is, and the incense 
is still fragrant about it. It supports its curved 
length on the top of a lofty column, and there is 
no extra fee for believiug in its antiquity. 

The monastery of S. Maria delle Grazie was sup- 
pressed into barracks for cavalry. The refectory 
was saved from such sacrilege and remains a bare 
and deserted room. Upon the wall at one end is 
one of the chief glories of Milan, in the painting of 
the Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci. No paint- 
ing has become more familiar. It is well that it has 
been in some measure preserved by photographs and 
engravings. The monks cut a door through the 
table, and time has carried their inroads upon the 
picture still further. The paint was not adapted to 
the wall on which it was placed. But it is nearly 
four hundred years since the colors were laid in oils 
upon the plaster. The faces are marred and faded, 
but much of the beauty of the work remains. It 
was not without difficulty and delay that it was exe- 
cuted. The artist told the impatient prior that he 
had not been able to fiDd a face which he could 
copy for Judas. The prisons and the haunts of vice 
had no model for the traitor. He silenced the prior 
by suggesting that he should sit for the likeness. 
So the story runs. The central face does not 
satisfy. No picture of Christ has contented his 
friends. Da Vinci waited long before he could 
create a conception of it. His conception is not on 
the wall. Others have touched what they have not 



IN NOBTHERN ITALY. 179 

adorned. To me it is not now a pleasing face to 
look upon. There is a constrained look about the 
mouth, a lack of the calmness, of the Divine consent 
to the Divine sorrow, by which the hour and the 
event were marked. The sketch for this face which 
is now in the Brera gallery seemed to me much 
finer. But there is a peculiar interest in looking at 
the wounded and bruised painting, and in letting it 
bring before the mind the scene which it represents. 
Never could it have equalled the simple narrative 
in the Gospels, while it may have stood in their 
stead for many a devoted heart who could not 
read what was written but could feel what was 
painted. 

It would be better if this memorable picture were 
alone in the room it consecrates, but there are 
copies which men have fallen low enough to make, 
and which bear the names of the painters, who 
would be quite glad to dispose of their productions. 
It might be supposed that a man who had any 
appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the work 
would be reluctant to attempt to transfer it to his 
own canvas. The supposition would be erroneous. 
There are few things in this direction to which men 
are not equal. 

One afternoon we went out to the Certosa di Pavia, 
by the steam tramway and an omnibus. The Certosa 

was a Carthusian monasterv. It was founded in 

«/ 

1396, suppressed, restored, and finally suppressed 
with the other Italian religious houses. It is now 
kept as a '^national monument." The church sur- 
prises the visitor by the solitariness of its position. 



180 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

It is a palace in a desert. It is literally alone in its 
glory. It is a deserted house. The fagade is filled 
with statues and bas-reliefs. Many artists brought 
their skill to it. "The church may be reckoned 
among the noblest of those structures in which the 
Italian love for spacious effect finds in the Gothic 
system a perfectly unfettered and beautiful expres- 
sion." This description seems just, though I could 
not have given it. The church is indeed spacious 
and beautiful. It has a nave and aisles, and four- 
teen chapels which are finely decorated. Ten slen- 
der columns sustain the dome. The high altar is 
rich in mosaic work. There is an air of luxuri- 
ance through the whole edifice. Marble is made 
to do its best. Neither cost nor pains has been 
spared. All this for a monument in a wilderness ! 
We looked into the refectory and the library, 
and walked among the marble columns of the 
cloisters. The buildings are all in excellent condi- 
tion, and are well kept by the few monks who 
remain in charge. There are many small houses 
where the monks lived in the days of their presence. 
The rooms are small, but pleasant, and well adapted 
to study and meditation. It looks as if they had a 
comfortable time, where their lines had fallen in 
pleasant places. They must have been sorry to be 
driven out. But for their ecclesiastical character 
we should be disposed to think that they grumbled, 
or did even worse. They left their quiet rooms 
which now wait for new occupants who do not 
come. I think that if I were to become a monk I 
should apply for one of these pretty houses, and for 



IN NOBTHEBN ITALY, 181 

the privilege of carrying on my solitary career amid 
their congenial surroundings. The battle of Pavia 
was fought near by, but it is hard to bring the 
armies back to the peaceful plain. The world has 
moved on, soldiers and monks have vanished, but 
the splendor of marble preserves the memory of 
them. 

The day came when we paid our last visit to the 
cathedral of Milan, and then turned our reluctant 
feet eastward. It was a pleasant ride to Padua, 
over the plains of Lombardy, with the Alps in the 
distance, past the Lago di Garda, — 

^^Benacus, with tempestuous billows vexed," 

then quiet and fair. The village looked down upon 
us from the hills as we hurried on. At the gate of 
Padua a solicitous officer stared into the omnibus, 
muttered something, and glanced at our hand lug- 
gage and allowed us to proceed. We selected as 
our abode the Hotel Fanti Stella d'Oro. It is not 
an elegant house, but it is reasonably comfortable. 
It was something to be in a town whose history 
reached into the myths. Antenor I. was a prince 
of Troy, and one of the wisest among the elders of 
liis city. He was in some way a family connection 
of Priam the King. He seems to have used his 
position for his own advantage. At least he did 
that which would be so described in modern times. 
When Menelaus and Ulysses came to Troy to 
recover Helen, he received the Greek ambassadors 
kindly, which was not a thing likely to be popular. 



182 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Nothing came of the visit, but the people called him 
a traitor. They found fault also because when 

Ulysses 

'^ had given himself 
Unseemly stripes, and o'er his shoulders flung 
Yile garments like a slave's, and entered thus 
The enemy's town, and walked its spacious streets,'' 

Antenor knew " who it was that passed," but failed 
to make him known. When Troy was taken he 
was spared by the conquerors. But what became 
of him is not quite clear. Some say he started a 
new kingdom on the ruins of the old one. Some 
that he went to Africa. But in Padua the thing 
to believe is, that he came to the western shore of 
the Adriatic, and, venturing a little way back from 
the coast, founded Patavium, which became Padova 
and Padua. This is probably true, for the sarcoph- 
agus which holds what is left of his bones is now 
standing in front of the house of Dante. To m ike 
this doubly sure, the sword of Antenor was found, 
with the fleshless hand still grasping the hilt. His 
city became great and flourishing. It grew weal- 
thy through its manufactures and commerce. At- 
tila plundered it, as a matter of course, and it was 
afterwards destroyed by the king of the Longobards. 
It has come up again, and is the capital of its prov- 
ince, and has between forty and fifty thousand 
inhabitants. The river on which it is built tra- 
verses it in various directions and makes numerous 
bridges necessary. The streets are very narrow and 
winding. Many of them contain arcades on one or 
both sides, something after the manner of the Ches- 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 183 

ter rows. These arcades are very pleasant when the 
sun is high. There are many squares for many 
kinds of trade. The square before our windows 
was filled early in the morning by a company of 
women and girls, with two or three men and boys. 
They had come in from the country with freshly 
cut grass, which they sold to hackmen and to other 
owners of horses. The sellers were bare-footed, 
but they were cheerful and patient as they sat by 
their wheelbarrows, occupying their long waiting 
moments with the gossip of the day. It is a fine 
thing that the people who have so little indoor to 
solace them have a climate which permits them to 
be abroad. Or should I say that it is a pity they 
have not a climate which would compel them to 
live at home, and to make home attractive? As 
it is, they use the larger house. They throng the 
streets, and sit at their tables on the sidewalks and 
in the squares and porticos. The men all smoke 
and seem to live by it. The women are so used to 
being smoked upon that they are not annoyed, and 
courtesy asks nothing of the men in this regard. 
Ices and wines are the perennial comfort. Street 
musicians add their melodies, and collect their cen- 
times. Life flows on easily, but apparently to no 
great purpose. This is the outside. Padua has its 
earnest life. Its University has been famous for six 
hundred years. Was not the ''young and learned 
doctor" Portia from Padua? The faculty of medi- 
cine is renowned in its own country, and law, the- 
ology, and the humanities all have a place. The 
latest report I have gives sixty-five professors and 



184 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

over eleven hundred students. There are museums 
and libraries, and a botanic garden and observa- 
tory, and all which belongs with the life of modern 
times. Here Livy was born, and here Dante found 
one of \\\^ many homes. What did we see in our 
brief visit ? We saw the Church of St. Antonio, 
ver}^ old, with seven domes, and a statue of the 
saint over the door. There are fine monuments and 
paintings and bronzes, and cloisters with high and 
wide arches. Very near is the Scuola del Santo, 
the hall of the brotherhood, with the walls deco- 
rated fittingly with seventeen frescoes in which the 
life of the saint is depicted. Some of them were 
painted by Titian, who had come from Venice to 
Padua. The neighboring Chapel of St. George has 
many fine frescoes, upon sacred and legendary sub- 
jects. The Church of St. Justin has a plain front of 
brick, and a floor of variously colored marble. It is 
fortunate in possessing the sarcophagus of St. Luke, 
a box of iron, apparently in an iron cage, and of 
St. Matthew, with the tomb of St. Justin above the 
high altar. The choir stalls are beautifully carved 
with representations of scenes from the Old and 
New Testaments. But I will say no more of 
churches. I might tell of the beggars at their 
gates ; of boys w^ho start up before every carriage 
when it stops, eager to open the door , of the cus- 
todians w^ho live on the curiosity and credulitj^ of 
strangers. But these are not peculiar to Padua. 

An hour's ride brought us to Venice. The gon- 
dola took us and our belongings to the Pension 
Suisse, or Hotel Roma, — not a large house, but a 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 185 

pleasant one, well situated and Avell conducted. The 
palaces and canals were found as we had left them 
years before. There are some tilings which are too 
old to change. Yet many of the palaces have fallen 
to hostlei'ies and warehouses, and a steamer is on the 
Grand Canal, much to the disgust of the gondoliers, 
who not only lose custom but have their waiting 
boats dashed against one another by the tides which 
the unhandsome rival creates. Every right-minded 
person sympathizes with the boatmen who belong to 
the canal in history and romance, and to everything 
which is good, unless hurry is good. 

We saw one other novelty — a horse. He was not 
on land, to be sure, and never would be in the city. 
He was on a boat, and gliding quietly to his doom at 
the horse-railroad on the Lido. He had no idea that 
this fate was awaiting him. He had never heard the 
like from his ancestors, or in the legends of the 
stables. He gazed with curious eyes on the new 
scenes through which he was passing, and even 
seemed pleased with his solitary grandeur, and 
showed his pleasure by whisking his long tail 
towards the passing gondolas. Well might he 
greet them, for he had seen nothing more graceful 
in his travels by land or sea. What can exceed 
the grace of a gondola under the control of a skil- 
ful hand ! The boat sits like a swan upon the 
water, and like a swan proudly lifts its head and 
silently winds its way over its native element, turn- 
ing from the broad avenue into the narrow paths 
with a precision that adds a delicate amazement to 
the serenity in which one is borne along, hearing 



186 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

only the gentle plash of the oar and the quick cry 
of the gondolier, who seems to be a part of his 
gondola. If there is a poetry of motion, it is this. 
Surely it is this when the full moon lies on the still 
waters, and the boat moves through a stream of 
silver, with the statelj^ fronts of palaces gleaming in 
the light, and the splendors of other and better days 
flitting from shore to shore in the brightness. It 
was a pretty sight at evening, when a gondola, 
adorned with colored lanterns, and bringing a com- 
pany of minstrels, drew up at the steps of the 
veranda where we were sitting ; and it was pleasant 
to hear the songs which were sung. The voices 
were not very sweet or smooth, but what the music 
lacked of melody was supplied by the boat, the 
lights, the water, and all the accompaniments. All 
this is the life of fairy-land. 

Easily we pass to the Piazza. The Cathedral still 
turns its face down the broad square, and the four 
horses are in their place. The upraised feet remain 
raised up. The Campanile rises in majesty over all 
which surrounds it. The tall masts have been re- 
moved and now lie on the pavement beyond the 
Cathedral. The windows of the stores glitter with 
silver and gold, and jewels rare and not rare, and 
furnish a generous exhibition of beautiful things. 
The people are in their places, in the same chairs, 
at the same tables, busy with the same indolence, 
awakening to the same ices, listening to the same 
music, toying with the same flower-girls as when we 
were here before. The doves hear the stroke of 
two, and flock to the same window where they and 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 187 

their kindred have been welcomed and rewarded 
for six hundred years. They alight boldly at the 
feet of men, and take corn from the hands of chil- 
dren, upon wliose arms they stand to be fed. We 
turn into the Piazzetta, and the two Syrian columns 
are in their place at tlie water's edge. St. Tlieodore 
is still upon his crocodile, and St. Mark, who sup- 
planted him as the guardian of Venice, is represented 
by liis winged lion. The gondoliers keep their head- 
quarters where once criminals met their death, and 
importunity for patronage is heard where the words 
of the last farewell were spoken. On all this the 
Palace of the Doges looks calmly down. 

Our house fronted on the Grand Canal. But at 
its side was a narrow alley, dark and not free from 
unpleasant smells, yet affording a convenient pas- 
sage out among the shops. A little extension of our 
walk brought us to the Piazza. It was easy to enter 
the Cathedral door and stand on its uneven floor, 
under its domes and among its marble columns. A 
look of age is on everything ; but it is of an old age 
beautiful in mosaics and gold and bronze. It is 
a building which grows upon one as he becomes 
familiar with its .antique grandeur. Each visit dis- 
closes something more to be admired. There is a 
fellowship with the departed splendor, with the days 
when nobles came with their retinues, and power, 
ambition, wealth, and honor bowed at the altar. 
They have gone ; but the signs of their presence are 
on the walls where they lavished their riches. 

We saw the bronze Vulcan strike the hours with 
the heavy hammer on the resounding bell. We 



188 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

climbed up within the Campanile, and looked over 
^tlie city of islands. We visited the Palace of the 
Doges, walked through its long porticos, stood in its 
spacious halls, studied its great paintings, and in the 
dreariness tried to bring back the vanished life. We 
stood in the hall of the feared and fearful Council of 
Ten, and thought upon the tyranny which was gone. 
We went into the prison and down into the subma- 
rine cells. Among others we saw that in which 
Faliero was confined. We went on the Bridge of 
Sighs, saw the stairs by which the prisoners ascended 
to their trial after crossing the bridge, and the stairs 
by which they descended to their doom, and the spot 
where men of rank were beheaded and humbler, men 
were strangled, and the holes in the stones by which 
the blood escaped, and the closed window through 
which the body was lowered in its chains into the 
gondola, from which it was to be cast into the sea, 
where it could tell no tales. I give these particulars 
on the authority of our guide, but with an impres- 
sion that things were not quite as he represented 
them. The place was gloomy enough for anything, 
and there were cruel days among those which are 
behind us. We tried to see the Arsenal. We did 
get into the Museum, and saw some relics of the 
palmy days of Venice, models of ships, the remains 
of the Bucentaur, banners from Lepanto, armor of 
old Doges, and of Henry IV. of France, old weapons 
of many patterns, and other curious things. We 
tried to gain admittance to the Navy Yard. Several 
persons tried to cut or break the red tape, but they 
kindly wasted our time without success. We did 



IN NORTHERN ITALY. 189 

look upon the four lions from the Piraeus, one of 
which is fabled to have come from Marathon. 

It was a delight to visit the Academy once more 
and behold the Assumption, with its glorious face, 
and to see the Virgin as a girl of twelve going up 
the Temple steps for her presentation. Can it be 
she who attained the splendor of the Assumption? 
In the picture of the girl her light hair hangs in a 
braid. She wears a blue dress, which she holds with 
her right hand while she reaches out the left to the 
high-priest, who waits at the top of the steps to 
receive her. There is a bit of realistic relief in the 
old woman who sits at the foot of the steps with a 
basket of eggs. There is a charming simplicity 
about the child. She looks what she was. I can 
add nothing to this brief catalogue. Nor have I 
much to say of the churches, which deserve so much, 
but have been seenJby so many. In St, Maria For- 
mosa is the beautiful St. Barbara of Palma Vecchio. 
The Frari is one of the finest churches in the city, 
and has among its treasures the monuments of 
Titian and Canova. It is amusing to see the pains 
the sculptors have taken to rise to renown by cut- 
ting their names into these memorials which they 
had made for greater men. Titian's has Pietro Zan- 
domeneghi F. and Luigi E. Pietro Zandomeneghi 
F. ; and Canova's, Antonio Boso Scolpi, with others 
which I did not copy. St. Sebastian's Church has 
paintings by Paul Veronese, and his tomb. Tinto- 
retto's pictures are in St. Rocco's care. How rich 
are the churches in these paintings, and how fortu- 
nate were the painters to find such places for their 



190 SOME THINGS ABROAB. 

work! But the Churcli which gave the subjects for 
many of the best works deserves to have that which 
she had done so much to produce. We had a pleas- 
ant ride in a gondola to the Armenian Convent of 
St. Lazarus. The island is called by the same 
name. The buildings are large and pleasant. 
There had been a fire not long before our visit, 
and the work of restoration was not completed. 
The institution is really a theological seminary. 
It has twenty monks and thirty scholars. There is 
a good library, with mummies and other appendices, 
and a printing-office, where good work is done. 
Byron was at one time a student here, and his table, 
inkstand, and pens are exhibited, I suppose with 
admiration for the poet. It seemed a good place 
for study, if isolation is favorable to it. Perhaps 
men of more sense and broader sympathies would 
be produced nearer to the heart of things. A gen- 
tle monk, who spoke English well, took us over the 
place and told its story in a serious voice. He 
would take no fee, which was suspicious; but his 
attentions brought us to a small room where books, 
photographs, and embroidery could be bought at 
extravagant prices. To purchase was a way of giv- 
ing a gratuity which could offend the feelings of 
neither party. Of the glass and lace factories of the 
city, the Ghetto for the Jews, the cemetery island 
with its brick walls, and many a place besides, I 
shall not speak. They are there when any would 
see them. 

Venice must be seen. Descriptions are unusually 
feeble here. The times of greatness are gone, and 



IN NOBTHEBJSr ITALY, 191 

the city lives in good part on its history. It is 
always pitiful when a place prolongs its existence 
by exhibiting its monuments. But the place is rare 
for situation. The traveller enters it with surprise 
and delight, and leaves with wonder and regret. Is 
there nothing there but pleasure? There might be 
some things set on the other side of the account. 
But to what purpose? There is the fragrance of 
the canals, under certain conditions : and mosquitoes 
which the smoky pastils subdue without destroy- 
ing: there are guides who are worse than their 
winged associates : and men with pictures to sell at 
your own price, and men with boat-hooks studded 
with brass nails, who render a needless service and 
hold their battered hats for the fee which to them is 
evidently not needless ; and there are beggars at the 
church doors, and beggars within who distract your 
meditations with the boxes of promises which they 
rattle before your face. These and like things are 
not agreeable. But why think upon them ? The 
gondolas and canals, the churches and palaces, the 
pictures and the pigeons are there. The canals may 
be filled up, as some have proposed, and then the 
place will indeed be despoiled. But to-day Venice 
survives. Long as the city retains what it has not 
yet parted with will men from all lands flock thither 
as the doves to their window, and' they will be 
rewarded for their coming with recollections which 
nothing can confuse or destroy. 



CHAPTER VI. 

TO AKD THROUGH ATHENS. 

We have reached the dividing line in these move- 
ments. In the afternoon of the 28th of September 
we left Venice for the older world beyond. It was 
with rather heavy hearts that we glided in our gon- 
dola from the steps of the hotel, and left behind the 
dearest friends we had. But we had set our hearts 
on seeing the borders of the East. Our railway 
journey was not long and was relieved by our com- 
panions. We found in the compartment an Italian 
man and woman who appeared to be in some irre- 
pressible period of love-making, if we might judge 
by their conduct. But we were more impressed by 
the behavior of another young man and woman who 
joined us. There was an excessive demonstration 
of affection on her part, to which he submitted in 
patience. This went so far that it became clear all 
was not right. This conviction gave a sad interest 
to the whole scene. Evidently, the mind of the 
woman had lost its balance, and her insanity, for 
the time, took on this gentle form. But nothing 
could exceed the gentleness of the man, who was 
taking her to some place of security, which should 
be also a place of healing. 

At another point in the ride there came in an old 

192 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 193 

man aud two women. After a season, with the usual 
German deliberation, the man fainted. The women 
had less of the national deliberation when they dis- 
covered his condition. There was a rapid mustering 
of bottles and handkerchiefs, and a quick succession 
of bathings and rubbings, with quite as much jabber- 
ing as could be helpful, till at length the old gentle- 
man recovered his equanimity. Was he grateful for 
the attention which had restored him ? Apparently 
not. He certainly resented the continued efforts of 
the women, and gave no heed to their anxious solici- 
tations. One of the nurses carried her efforts so far 
as to sit on the man's hat. That seemed to mean 
nothing to him, and not much more to her, or even 
to the hat. 

With these excitements the few hours passed by. 
We found at Gorizia, where the custom-house force 
assisted us, that we^ were crossing into Austria, and 
at ten o'clock we were at Trieste. We found pleas- 
ant quarters at the Hotel Delorme. From that 
moment we had little occasion to think for our- 
selves, so far as travelling was concerned. For we 
were in the care of an enterprising tourist company, 
and under the personal charge of Mr. Thomas G. 
Mill, of London. We were fortunate in being 
placed under his direction. He was a man who 
had seen not a little of the world, whose knowledge 
reached through a wide range of subjects, who was 
skilful in planning a journey and in carrying it 
through, who was courageous in difficulties and 
patient amid complaints, — a wise conductor, a 
genial companion, and a friend to be remembered. 



194 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

If I ever travel again, I shall bespeak him for my 
guide. I want to insert here the address of Mr. Mill, 
at 49 Grove Lane, Camber well, London. 

If one is to go into the East, the first thing to do 
is to put himself into the hands of some one whose 
business it is to arrange the plans and details of the 
journey, and who has all that is necessary for its 
prosecution. For travelling, especially in unfre- 
quented places, is now reduced to a science, and the 
prudent man will avail himself of the fact. The 
next thing is to connect himself with others who 
are of a like mind. Of course it is possible to 
travel alone, or with a single friend. But this is 
more expensive and has other disadvantages. As 
things are now managed, the party for a journey is 
commonly made up by the agent. Each person 
may have his one or two friends, but there must be 
the grouping of these into companies of convejiient 
size, and this must be done by the wise man who is 
to have the control of the expedition. It becomes, 
therefore, a matter of great interest to discover who 
are to be the companions upon the jou^iey in strange 
lands, where the association must needs be close. 
So many things go to make up a pleasant travelling 
companion, that there is always a large element of 
chance in this mode of journeying, and one feels this 
strongly when he first looks in the faces of those who 
are for several weeks to share his life. Concerning 
those who should be in our party we were in uncer- 
tainty for a long time. Indeed, the company was 
never made. The members of it simply drifted 
together, and half of them came when the journey 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 195 

was half over. There were rumors at Venice of 
three or four men who were to appear at Trieste, 
and the rumors remained in force all the way to 
Turkey. But those men have not yet been found, 
with one exception. Of that one I must now speak. 
I do it with pleasure, for he proved a good compan- 
ion. When we went to breakfast at Trieste, we met 
at the table a gentleman with whom we were to 
move on. We looked hard at him for the sake of 
what was coming. A plain, honest, intelligent face 
answered our staring with its own. I suppose it 
would not be just to insert any more true names. 
It will answer my purpose to say that this was Mr. 
Garry, of Pennsjdvania. In his calling he combined 
the merchant and the mechanic. He had risen by 
his own merit to a good position, and was disposed 
to use a portion of the leisure which he had earned 
by seeing more of the world than lay among his 
mountains. His chief thought in visiting Palestine 
was to see "where the Apostles and the Saviour 
lived." He cared little for cities, — 'Hhere are 
cities enough in America." In pictures and statues 
he had no interest. But he longed to look upon 
the places which are ''mentioned in the Bible." 
I set him down for a sturdy, sensible deacon in the 
church, who had the Scriptures written in his mind, 
and whose pious designs were worthy of the indul- 
gence which he purposed to give them. In this 
judgment I was not entirely correct. But I think 
that I did not over-estimate the man. He showed 
his character at once. For no sooner was breakfast 
over than he offered me his assistance in procuring 



196 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

anything T might need. In the few hours he had 
spent in tlie city before our arrival he had measured 
its capacity, and had found out what it had to offer 
in objects of utility and interest. His sight-seeing 
had already begun, though he had not come upon 
the footprints of apostles. He had been to the 
Chateau of Miramar, and had mourned over the 
fate of Maximilian, the beguiled and betrayed mon- 
arch of a land which had no use for him, and he had 
admired the splendors which the prince left for a 
throne and a grave. 

There were a few purchases to be made, of things 
which pilgrims would be sure to need. There was 
one visit to be paid to an old and honored friend, 
Ex-Consul Thayer. We found him in his pleasant 
rooms, among his books and pictures ; lingering in 
the land which had long been his home, yet hoping 
that his last days might be spent in the land of his 
birth. His hope is the desire of all who know him. 

The half-day which we had in Trieste gave us no 
time to go about the city. It was a rainy forenoon, 
and all things wore a sombre look. We could see 
great buildings, clean streets, and the signs of a 
large traffic. For Trieste is the chief seaport of 
Austria, and has a fine position at the head of the 
Adriatic. It has its bishop and cathedral, its school 
of theology and naval academy, its museum and obser- 
vatory. It is in effect an Italian city, though men 
of many nations meet in its markets. The steamers 
which are coming and going make the harbor a busy 
place. How long this will last, no one knows. 
Commerce changes its channels at its will, and 



TO AND THBOUGH ATHENS, 197 

the Suez Canal makes Trieste of less importance 
than in former years. The trade to India will natu- 
rally seek the shortest way, and this port seems 
likely to be left on one side. Such has been the 
fate of many places in the old world and the new. 
Whether the old city can adapt itself to new condi- 
tions remains for time to determine. Trieste is 
mentioned as a Roman town fifty years before the 
Christian era, when it was know^n as Tergeste. 
Roman has the sound of antiquity there. We shall 
soon be where Roman means modern, and the trav- 
eller hardly deigns to look on that w^hich bears the 
name. 

Early in the afternoon we drove to the steamer 
Hungarian and were soon on our voyage towards 
Athens. We saw Miramar in the distance as we 
moved away. Mr. Garry reminded us that he had 
trodden its floor ; and added that he could no more 
tell its beauties than he could tell how many pails of 
water we had passed since we left Trieste. The 
comparison was impressive, and calculated to make 
us dissatisfied with ourselves. But it was too late 
to fill up our deficiency. 

The accommodations on the Mediterranean steam- 
ers are not entirely to the American mind. We 
found that our state-room was a small cabin with 
berths for five or six persons. We could get nothing 
better, and with protest settled down for the voyage. 
There was a variety in the passengers. Two young 
ladies were from Boston, and were on their way to 
Constantinople. There was a man Avith a tall hat, 
whose circumference increased with its height, and 



198 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

with long, brown robes. We judged him to be an 
Armenian patriarch. Then there were Greeks, and I 
know not what nationalities besides. Our first day 
at sea was Sunday. It was refreshing to open the 
port-hole over my berth and to catch a breath from 
the outer world. It was a fine day, with a mild but 
over-abundant air. Monday was cloudy and dreary, 
and few persons were to be seen on the upper deck. 
We passed down the hill}^ coast of Albania and 
in the early evening reached Corfu. It was too 
dark for us to see much of the town, but the lights 
along the coast made a very pleasing effect. Boats 
came off to the steamer, and we gave up some of 
our passengers and took on others. These were 
mostly of the third class, who found places where 
they could lie along the deck in poverty and uncon- 
cern. We wished that all who came were of the 
same grade, for one man of a slightly higher condi- 
tion was thrust into our cabin. It was not his fault, 
but our misfortune. The next day was fair and 
bright. Our way lay between Ithaca and Cepha- 
lonia. The Kingdom of Uly ses was in appearance 
an immense rock, with green spots upon it. But it 
is some fifteen miles long and has some ten thousand 
people upon it. The ruins of the Castle of Ulysses 
can be seen on Mount Aeto, so the islanders tell, but 
the castle was not visible to us. Cephalonia is the 
largest of the Ionian islands. Its mountains are 
conspicuous and its currants abundant. The latter 
are the leading product of this and the neighboring 
islands. Ship-building and other industries have a 
place there. The island has its ancient fame and the 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. I99 

necessary ruins to sustain it. Zante comes next and 
suggests raisins. The large vineyards are prolific, 
but the grapes are small, even as we see them in 
their dried estate. Zante has its place in classic his- 
tory. Its capital, of the same name, boasts a Greek 
archbishop and a Roman bishop, with five churches, 
and other important buildings. Herodotus calls the 
island by its longer name and writes : " I have my- 
self seen pitch drawn up out of a lake of pure water 
in Zacynthus; and there are several lakes there: the 
largest of them is seventy feet every way, and two 
orgyse in depth ; into this they let down a pole with 
a myrtle branch fastened to the end, and then draw 
up pitch adhering to the myrtle ; it has the smell of 
asphalt, but is in other respects better than the pitch 
of Pieria. They pour it into a cistern dug near the 
lake, and when they have collected a sufficient quan- 
tity they pour it off from the cistern into jars." I^ 
seems that petroleum is not a novelty. But we 
saw no wells or lakes. Reading had to supplement 
vision. 

We rounded the Peloponnesus and turned up the 
eastern coast of Greece. With what adjective shall 
I attempt to describe the sail along the classic shore? 
The ^gean was as quiet as Waban water. The 
islands rested peacefully upon its bosom. The sea, 
the land, the wind, the clouds seemed full of de- 
lightful memories which were wakened by the names 
we heard and the thoughts which came with them, 
as we drew near to Athens. We entered the Saronic 
gulf, and passed by ^gina, and then Salamis, into 
whose broad bay we could look over the waters no 



200 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

longer disturbed by contending navies. Themisto- 
cles and Xerxes were no longer with their fleets; but 
for us there was no other Sahimis but theirs, and the 
Salamis of Solon and Euripides. 

The hills are there still, and there are ruins, and 
imagination can do the rest to restore the vanished 
renown. Soon the masts of the Piraeus appeared, 
and in the distance we saw Hymettus, and the 
heights of Athens. What a vision it was ! Who 
can forget the moment when he first sees the col- 
umns of the Parthenon, the congregated wonders of 
the Acropolis ! We passed into the ample harbor 
and stopped. An officer went on shore to secure 
permission for us to land. A long line of boats was 
in waiting till the permission should be given. At 
length the signal was given that it was granted, 
w^hen there came a genuine boat race. Never were 
crews more eager. The men rowed with their might 
and shouted with their main. As they approached 
the steamer men in the rear boats leaped into those 
in front and thus made their way to the ship. We 
were assailed with a demonstrative hospitality. 
Hotels and boats were offered far beyond our capac- 
ity for acceptance. We had no part in the clamor. 
Mr. Mill knew the man whom he wanted, and we 
were soon in his boat and on pur way to the shore, 
under a local guide. When we touched the pier our 
guide went off, and soon returned with two officials, 
who gazed at us for a moment and signified that 
they had no objection to our stepping upon the soil 
of Greece. We accordingly took the step. Indeed, 
we were there for that purpose. Our luggage was 



TO AXD TIIBOUGU ATHENS, 201 

put on a carriage, a hack of familiar shape, and ^Ye 
were phiced inside the same vehicle. Then \\q 
started for the city, which was one hour away. 
We were stopped once by an official of uncertain 
grade, to wliom our new guide addressed himself in 
appropriate terms, and we were allowed to keep 
moving. Our only other pause was for the refresh- 
ment of man and beast, especiallj' man, that is the 
driver and guide. There was little of interest on 
the road except that it led to Athens. We passed 
mills, or water-wheels, which looked like pictures 
we had seen, and men carrvino- in carts huo^e leath- 
ern bottles filled with wine. The way was dustj^ 
and without beauty. It was good to enter the city ; 
to see Greek words on the signs ; to look on Greek 
men and women in their homes; to know that we 
were in Athens. We found a delightful hotel near 
the royal palace, beneath Lycabettus and its lofty 
Church of St. George. The " Grande Bretagne " 
sounded well even in Greece. 

The house deserved its name. It was spacious 
and attractive, and the table was excellent. So far 
as our experience went, this was the outer border of 
fine hotels. Beyond, only comfort could be secured. 
Athens threw in luxuries. 

We were under the special care of Mr. Thomas 
Manessi while we were in Greece. It was very 
good care. He was intelligent and indulgent, as 
becomes a guide. Under his direction we saw the 
city pretty well, if the brevity of our stay is con- 
sidered. We saw too much to warrant an attempt 
at description, and too little to make a description 



202 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

of any value to those who have the numerous books 
and pictures which have made Athens and its treas- 
ures and its history familiar. Athens is not so 
large that it cannot be known. The mind readily 
grasps its chief features and retains them. Nor are 
its records so indistinct that they cannot be read. 
The wonderful and imperishable interest which is 
attached to the city and to everything in it will 
make it more widely known as the years pass on. 

Athens is now in three portions. In the newest 
part the buildings are good and the white walls give 
them a very bright, fresh look. The streets are 
wide and clean, and the whole appearance indicates 
thrift. I was not able to ascertain clearly upon 
what Athens depends for prosperity. But the 
amount of shipping in the Piraeus shows that she is 
engaged in quite an extensive commerce. Wine 
was almost the only thing we saw which was likely 
to be exported. There must be grain, and perhaps 
other commodities, to be sent away, and the trade 
with the interior must be considerable. A town has 
grown up at the harbor, with the appliances of a 
large business. 

On the other side of the cify are the remains of 
ancient Athens, solitary and grand. Between the 
oldest and newest portions is the district which is 
neither old nor new: where the streets are narrow 
and not clean, and houses and shops are huddled 
together, after the fashion of most places in that 
part of the world. There was very little to remind 
us that we were in Athens. The ordinary Euro- 
pean dress was worn by everybody, except one 



TO AND TIIBOUGH ATHENS. 203 

guide who hung around our hotel, waiting for 
employment. He wore the full white skirts reach- 
ing nearly to the knees, and the long white stock- 
ings reaching towards the same boundary line, with 
an elaborate jacket and cap. It seems a pity that 
the national dress has been laid aside. The copying 
of French costumes lessens the attractiveness of any 
people. The appointments of our hotel we should 
have found in Paris. We should have been better 
pleased with the fare of the country served in the 
national method. The carriages in the streets were 
such as one finds in Boston. The large, open ba- 
rouche was the most common. We asked for some- 
thing which we could carry away as characteristic 
of the place and people. Manessi said there was 
nothing. When we pressed him he suggested shoes. 
We saw the shoe-makers along the streets, and the 
large pointed foot-coverings, but they were not what 
we wanted. He also proposed silks, but he showed 
us nothing desirable. At length it dawned upon 
his mind that there was not far away an industrial 
school established by American missionaries. Our 
first attempt to visit this school failed. We tried 
again and gained entrance. We found children 
learning to sew and embroider and make lace, and 
women and girls weaving silk and making carpets. 
The implements were rude and clumsy for this 
day. But the work was well done, and we were 
glad to buy a few specimens of the silk goods as 
souvenirs of Athens. We did find, also, in an old 
market, a lot of national knives, with wooden 
handles and triangular blades. They are doubtless 



204 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

useful in the fish trade, but for general cutting 
purposes tliey are not of much value, as the price 
indicated. Our only mistake was in not buying 
more. 

When Manessi entered upon his work of showing 
us Athens, he first chartered a carriage for four per- 
sons. We were to view antiquities, but with the 
modern appliances. But of ancient conveyances 
there were none, unless the human feet could be 
described under that term. The order of sight- 
seeing puts the carriage first. Walking comes in, 
but at a later stage. 

Our first stopping-place was at the Stadium. 
This was an amphitheatre, in which the labor of 
men had improved the natural features of the hill of 
Agrse, which was in the form of a crescent, and" had 
constructed a place for the games in which the peo- 
ple delighted. There gladiators contended, and 
wild beasts were matched against men. In its glory 
this was a magnificent theatre. It was nearly seven 
hundred feet long. It had marble seats for forty or 
fifty thousand people, and standing room for as 
many more. The games were on the same scale. 
At one spectacle, it is reported, a thousand beasts 
were killed. The Temple of Fortune, with an ivory 
statue of the goddess, was on one side. Little remains 
of the grand Stadium besides the hill, which keeps 
its ancient shape, and could easily be restored to its 
former uses if a degenerate age should demand it. 
In its present desolation it is difficult to think of the 
mad excitement, the fierce passion, the suffering and 
renown, which then made a part of the play of a 



TO AND TFinOUGFI ATHENS. 205 

great people. Yet tlie desolation is not deeper, is 
less oppressive, than that which broods among the 
ruins of structures which had a higher purpose. 

We stopped next at the Temple of Zeus Olympius, 
if by that name it can now be called. Once it held 
high rank, as the largest and one of the finest of the 
temples of Athens. Pisistratus, the ''genial tyrant," 
laid the foundations'; but it was left for Hadrian to 
complete the work. The house was, therefore, nearly 
seven hundred years in being built. There were a 
hundred and twenty columns around it, but only six- 
teen- of them remain. They have a very lonesome 
look as they tower sixty feet above the dreary plain. 
Even a hermit who once found a home on the archi- 
trave has disappearred. He has left the massive pil- 
lars to stand sentinels over their own past. Xear 
by is the gate, or arch, of Hadrian. It does not 
appear to have been the gateway to anj^thing in 
particular, but to have served as a boundary mark 
betwee]! the older and later i\.thens, the city of 
Theseus and the quarter which was the especial 
care of Hadrian. The gateway is some twenty feet 
wide and rises between two immense square piers. 
There were two Corinthian columns before each 
pier. The arch is in two stories, having a sort of 
attic over the gateway. Upon the frieze of the 
architrave, on each face of the arch, is an inscrip- 
tion. One of these declqj'es that the citj^ which it 
faces was the Athens of Theseus, and the other that 
the place which it confronts was the city of Hadrian. 
It is probable that the arch had a triumphal charac- 
ter, but there is nothing imposing about it now, and 



206 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

it has lost the special meaning which would have 
given it interest and dignity. 

Before another building we were thrown into con- 
fusion. The book called it the Lantern of Demos- 
thenes. Maiiessi insisted that this was a mistake — , 
that it should be the Lantern of Diogenes. Proba- 
bility leaned heavily on the side of the interpreter. 
We knew that the Cynic had a lantern, and had 
good use for it. Whether the greatest of orators 
had need of such illumination we were not so sure. 
But a better authority than guide-books or guides 
would have relieved us from the necessity of decid- 
ing between the two claimants. It is really the 
monument of Lysicrates. It commemorates a vic- 
tory obtained at a public contest in music. Hence 
its title, choragic. It is on the Street of the Tri- 
pods, and is among the finest of the smaller monu- 
ments which have been preserved. It is a circular 
building, with half-Corinthian columns about it, and 
a square foundation beneath. Above are a beautiful 
frieze and cornice, while the top of the structure is 
elaborately decorated. Its shape is not very unlike 
a lantern, which may have suggested that name. 
The court of a French Capuchin monastery was 
once about it. We were told that Byron passed a 
night within the monument or lantern. It is of 
pure Pentelic marble, is thirty-four feet high, and 
dates from B. C. 335. There seems to have been an- 
other building similiar to this, which was called tlie 
Lantern of Diogenes. But there are no traces of it 
now. On the southeast side of the Acropolis we 
passed into the enclosure of Dionysus, or Bacchus, 



TO AND THBOUGH ATHENS. 207 

the wine god of Attica. Two temples were there, near 
the great theatre of Athens. The upper part of the 
theatre was cut out of the cliff, and the rest was con- 
structed of wood and stone. It was a fine structure 
when at its best estate. The stage and auditorium 
remain, and the front seats of marble, which bear the 
names of the priests who occupied them. There are 
other seats above these. The place of the orchestra is 
clearly marked, and the open space where there was 
dancing around an altar. It is conjectured that the 
women had the upper seats, where they sat apart 
from the men. The centuries have been working 
out a deeper tragedy than was ever performed by 
the actors who have gone into the great realities. 

We entered the sanctuary of ^sculapius, which 
was afterwards a Christian church. " The blame- 
less physician " was very widely worshipped. All 
Greece paid him homage. His temples were numer- 
ous and were often built on hills and near wells 
whose waters were thought to possess healing prop- 
erties. Care was taken to secure a healthy place 
for the worship of one upon whom so many 
depended for immediate benefit. This temple at 
Athens had a good situation. We found in a cave 
a well whose water is disagreeable enough to be 
salutary, and we could easily believe that the medi- 
cine concocted and compounded with it had the 
desirable qualities. 

Herodes Atticus was one of the greatest of the 
benefactors of Greece. He had wealth, learning, 
and eloquence, and he used all for the advantage of 
his country. He almost despoiled Pentelicus of mar- 



208 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

ble when he would adorn the Stadium, — so it was 
said, but not without exaggeration. He certainly 
ventured on a magnificent scale. He was of an old 
family of Marathon, and his father enriched him- 
self by finding a hidden treasure. The father 
bequeathed the greater part of this wealth to the 
Athenians, but the son made a compromise with 
them, by which he kept most of the money. He 
inherited more from his mother, and more came to 
him by his wife. He was therefore able to be 
a public benefactor. A theatre, aqueduct, race- 
course, and hospital were among his gifts. Of his 
literary productions nothing has survived, but his 
material benefits have left their traces through the 
land. At the southwest corner of the Acropolis he 
built the Odeum or Odeon, to which he affixed the 
name of Regilla, his wife. It was a theatre which 
would hold from six to ten thousand spectators. 
Something of the walls and seats can now be seen. 
It had a roof of cedar, finely carved, and this was 
a distinguishing feature of the structure. The 
Odeum was devoted to the contests of poets and 
musicians. There the rhapsodist could display his 
skill, and the pla3^er on the lyre solicit the admira- 
tion of his listeners, and prizes could be gained 
which were held of great account. We found noth- 
ing of the kind going on. An old woman and a 
headless statue seemed to be the guardians of the 
place, from which music and poetry had fled. 

Thus we wound our way up the Acropolis, tarry- 
ing among these annexed ruins in this subordinate 
desolation. There was some little life, but it was 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 209 

of the modern and vulgar sort. Coins of a professed 
antiquity were offered for sale, and shells from 
Marathon sought purchasers. Whatever may have 
been the intrinsic value of these wares, it was some- 
thing that we could buy them there. 

Now that we are fairly on the Acropolis, what can 
I say of it? I shall attempt little. The plans and 
pictures which are so readily found will give a far 
better idea of the place than any words could create. 
The name has a description and a history in itself. 
The higher or upper citj is an instructive term. 
Sometimes it has been called ''the city" to mark its 
pre-eminence. It is a hill or rock rising five hun- 
dred feet or more above the sea. There Athens had 
its beginning. The houses were small upon the 
hill itself, but as they were built beyond it, out upon 
other hills, they increased in size, and their arrange- 
ment became orderly as the settlement took on the 
form of a city. The Acropolis proper became a cit- 
adel, with the town around it, and walls enclosing 
the whole, with other walls reaching to the towns 
on the sea. Upon the summit were erected build- 
ings which have given to the height its chief inter- 
est. The Propyleea was the gateway. It was built 
by Pericles, who died in B. C 429. It was more 
than an entrance. Those who saw it in its glorj^ 
thought it more wonderful than the Parthenon. 
Immense stones were built into it, and their 
strength was made beautiful. Sixty marble steps, 
seventy feet from side to side, led up to it, and 
through the centre of these steps was a road run- 
ning to the entrance above. A portico with six 



210 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 

columns was at the head of the steps, and beyond 
this was a large and magnificent hall, with five gates 
at its east end, through which entrance into the 
Acropolis was gained. The Propylaea, from its posi- 
tion and construction, was a substantial defence to 
the hill upon whose front it stood. On each side 
was a wing with Doric columns. In that on the 
north was the Pinacotheca, where the works of the 
great masters were displayed. At the right of 
the south wing was a small temple, twenty feet 
wide, devoted to the Unwinged Victory, and express- 
ing the hope and confidence of the Athenians that 
the Goddess of Victory would never fly away from 
them. Passing through the Propylsea, there is seen 
upon the left tlie Erectheum. As the story goes, 
this was built by Erectheus I., or Erichthonius, an 
Attic hero, who drove out Amphictyon and became 
King of Athens. He set up the worship of Athena, 
instituted a grand festival in her honor, and built 
her this temple. His fame as the original driver of 
a chariot with four horses is now commemorated 
among the stars, where Auriga, or the Wagoner, or 
Charioteer, holds his place among divinities. The 
temple was conspicuous in 

" the well built town of Athens, 
Town of Erectheus with the noble heart, 
Earth-born, but fostered by Athena's care, 
Jove's child, and in her own rich temple set." 

There were three parts to the temple,, or three 
temples together. One for Athena, the protectress 
of the State ; then the sanctuary of Erectheus, and 



TO AND TUB UGH ATHENS, 211 

finally the sanctuary of Pandrosos, "i\ie all-bedew- 
ing" daughter of Cecrops. The building was 
oblong, with a portico at the north-west corner, 
and a smaller one at the south-west. This smaller 
portico, the Cecropium, is remarkable for the six 
Caryatides, who stand there in patience holding up 
the mass of stone which presses on their heads. 
These marble pillars are Attic maidens of rank and 
of beauty, and in their calm faces and flowing 
drapery, and their vigor and repose, they are good 
representatives of the glory which has passed from 
the temple which they adorn, and of the spirit which 
can be burdened but cannot be destroyed. One or 
two of the little comjjany have been removed out 
of their place, and the substitutes of baser material 
and formation are in unpleasant contrast to their 
older but nobler sisters. The Persians destroyed 
the temple, but it was rebuilt. Little now re- 
mains of it — so little that it is impossible to 
determine the arrangement and uses of its many 
apartments. 

The special glory of the Acropolis is, of course, 
the Parthenon. This too the Persians destroyed, 
and this too was restored. Ictinus and Callicrates 
were the architects, while Phidias and his pupils 
gave to it its wealth of sculpture. Indeed, Phidias 
superintended the whole work. It is of Pentelic 
marble. Three steps lead up to the base on which 
the temple stands. The temple itself is one hun- 
dred and ninety-three feet long and seventy-one 
broad. It is surrounded by a colonnade of forty-six 
columns, with an inner row of eight at each end. 



212 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

and others within the walls. The temple was in 
two unequal parts : the temple proper, where stood 
the " colossal chryselephantine image of the god- 
dess," "a core of wood covered with plates of gold 
and ivory," the heroic work of Phidias ; and the 
smaller apartment, which was the public treasury. 
There are signs that there were paintings on the 
exterior of the temple. Tints of blue and red are 
still to be seen, with traces of the patterns in which 
they were set. The sculptures presented historical 
and mythological subjects. Many of these were 
taken to England in the early part of this century. 
It is said that Lord Elgin exaggerated the permis- 
sion which was given him to remove some of the 
marbles, and fairly despoiled the Parthenon of its 
treasures. However glad we may be to see them in 
England, when in Athens it can only seem a refined 
vandalism which has torn them from the structure 
of which they were a part. The Parthenon survived 
the special purpose for which it was erected. After 
a time the Virgin supplanted Athena, and the tem- 
ple became a Christian church. But war has small 
regard for art or religion. In the conflict between 
the Turks and Venetians, in 1687, the Parthenon was 
destroyed. Destroyed is too strong a word. Its 
columns were chipped, and broken, and cast down ; 
the interior was ruined; but enough of the columns 
and walls remained to be a witness to the skill and 
devotion which built the house ; to testify to its 
magnificence, and represent its grandeur. Still 
stand the lofty pillars upon the lofty heights, visi- 
ble from afar, upon the land and upon the sea, the 



TO AND TnROUGH ATFIENS, 213 

proudest monument of the proud city which has 
been the teacher of the world. 

Athens has a rightful claim to her illustrious posi- 
tion. She was the city of wisdom from the first. 
The story may be told again, and it comes in well at 
this point. Athena, Pallas Athena, who was called 
Minerva at Rome, and her uncle, Poseidon, whom 
the Romans called Neptunus, contended for the pos- 
session or ownership of Attica. Athena was the 
goddess of wisdom, and she had in her charge a 
variety of arts which were useful and ornamental. 
The plough and the needle were in her keeping ; 
the ship and the loom. Poseidon was the god of the 
sea. He had a submarine palace off the coast of 
Euboea, and there he kept his horses with manes of 
gold and hoofs of brass. He liked to come up for a 
drive, and the waves over which his chariot rolled 
became level for 4iis convenience, and he had a 
famous retinue of his neighbors and subjects who 
frolicked about him as his steeds leaped over the 
waters. One would think that this might have con- 
tented him. He was too much like a man to be 
contented. He wanted a position on the land. So 
he applied for the protectorate of Attica, and the 
other candidate was his niece. That was in the reiofn 
of Cecrops, the first king of the country, and a 
monarch who made himself a father to his people, 
though he was only half human in form, if the 
legends are to be trusted — and if we do not believe 
them what can we learn of those distant times ? In 
those days the Civil Service rules were in force, 
and there was a competitive examination. The can- 



214 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

didate who should produce that which would be 
most useful was to have the place. It was a case in 
which taste and habit would have a large influence. 
Quite naturally, Poseidon offered a horse, and Athena 
an olive-tree. The commissioners, who were divini- 
ties, decided in favor of the woman. Thus wisdom 
was enthroned where Athena set her imperishable 
name. The accounts do not entirely agree, but the 
substantial points are quil^ clear. 

Poseidon was not satisfied. What defeated candi- 
date was ever content ? But he left his mark on the 
place over which he could not rule. For at some 
time in this contest he struck his trident, the three- 
pronged sceptre, on the Acropolis, whereupon the 
salt water sprang from the rock. Some of these 
statements can now be verified. We saw the place 
where the spring was. But Pausanias, who made 
an extensive tour through this country in the second 
century, found the sea-water in the cave of Poseidon, 
and was not so much surprised as could have been 
expected. He was surprised to find that when the 
wind was from the south, there was a sound in the 
well as of the waves of the sea. He saw also in the 
rock the form of the trident. The marks may be 
seen now. There are but two of them, which is 
unfortunate. But it is a long time since Neptune 
smote the stone with his sceptre, and more important 
things than a hole have been lost. The story should 
not be allowed to suffer for such a trifling defect as 
that. Pausanias saw also the sacred olive-tree, the 
crooked " citizen " of the height. We also saw the 
olive-tree, a mere shrub, without impressiveness save 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 215 

that wliicli its romantic history lends it. The tree 
was burned in the wars, but on the same day it sent 
u]i sprouts two cubits long. Herodotus saj's they 
were but one cubit long ; but he is not altogether 
trustworthy. In either case its long life is accounted 
for. 

Whatever may be the exact truth regarding de- 
tails, there can be no doubt that Athena was the 
divinity of the city which has so long been called 
after her. We saw where her statue was, where she 
heard the prayers of the people, and the place un- 
derneath where the priest was hidden who responded 
in her name. There was the aperture, too, through 
which the suppliants dropped the money which re- 
warded the goddess and supported the priest. 

We came down from the Acropolis and made the 
ascent of a hill which is much less imposing but 
which holds a prominent place in a history which is 
broader and larger than that of Athens. Mars' Hill, 
as we know it, the Areopagus, as it was called in the 
daj^s of its power, is a mass of rocks, not large or 
high, and having no treasures of antiquity separate 
from itself. On the north side the ground rises 
gradually till it terminates in the broken ridge. The 
south side is a rough precipice, whose highest part is, 
perhaps, fifty feet above the valley, from which the 
hill looks like an immense boulder which a classic 
glacier has left in its advance. There is a feeling of 
disappointment in finding that there is no more of a 
place whose name suggests grandeur and importance. 
Its history is in several parts which are quite dis- 
tinct. It gets its name from Ares, that is Mars, who 



216 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

killed the son of Poseidon, and was tried before the 
gods upon this hill. Euripides embodied the fact in 
his lines : — 

'^ There is a Hill of Mars, where first the gods 
In council sat and voted about blood, 
When cruel Mars slew Halirrhothius." 

There is a different account given of the name, 
but this seems to be the most authentic. The hill 
was the seat of the famous court or council to 
which from ancient times were committed the grav- 
est Athenian causes, both civil and religious. The 
court was held in the night, so it is said, that the 
judges might hear the voices of those who spoke to 
them, without seeing their faces. The sessions were 
held in the open air, that the judges and prosecut- 
ing officers might not be sliut in with the criminals, 
whose presence would be polluting. The court met 
on the highest part of the hill. Sixteen steps, cut 
in the rock, led up to tlie platform, which can still be 
traced, where were the seats of the judges. These 
also were cut in the rock where they can even now 
be seen. Pausanias, the traveller, saw two rude 
stones on the hill, on one of which, during a trial, 
the accuser stood, and on the other the accused. 

It was a wonderful place for a court. The Acrop- 
olis and its temples towered above it. The city- 
was spread around it, even reaching to the base of 
the rock. A temple of Mars was on the hill, while 
in a chasm under the seats of the judges was the 
entrance to the sanctuary of the Eumenides, or 
Erinyes, or Semnse, or, more popularlj^, the Furies. 



TO AND TnBOUGH ATHENS. 217 

The first name signifies '' \Yell-meaning," and was 
used because the people \Yere afraid to call these 
dread divinities by their true title. Gods and men 
were afraid of them, and not without reason if they 
are correctly described as having black bodies, with 
serpents twined in their hair, and with blood drop- 
ping from their eyes. It is but fair to say, however, 
that their images have nothing especially frightful 
about them. Perhaps discretion prevailed over 
truthfulness in this. 

Above the whole scene rose the colossal form of 
Athena, with her spear and shield and helmet, 
defending and adorning the city which bore her 
name. Greek tragedy found a place upon Mars' 
Hill, where so man}' real tragedies found their end. 
Judges and actors have disappeared. The plays are 
still read by scholars, and now and then become the 
delight of the few__who see them again in living 
form, that the pursuits of other j^ears may be the 
pastime of the present. 

But for the most of those who know the Areopa- 
gus, and who have an intelligent concern with the 
course of the world's thought and life, the great 
interest in Mars' Hill is in the fact that there once 
stood upon it a man wdiose influence was to exceed 
that of his predecessors, and to stamp itself deeply 
and permanently into the lives of men. Nothing in 
the history of the place is more impressive or instruc- 
tive than this single line, — '' Then Paul stood in 
the midst of Mars' Hill." He addressed the world 
and the centuries when he said, "Ye men of 
Athens." 



218 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

It was no man who that day was on trial for his 
life. The thought, belief, action, the civilization 
and religion, of the days when the Parthenon was in 
its splendor, were on trial. No : the trial was over. 
Tlie verdict and sentence are in the ruins of the 
Acropolis, and the desolation it looks down upon. 
We stood where St. Paul stood. It was in the 
midst, or middle, of the narrow top of the rock. 
We must have been upon the very spot. There was 
no audience. But we could imagine the time when 
there was life among these temples, and the places 
of men's homes, and we could see the multitudes 
standing beneath the preacher as from his high pul- 
pit he uttered his bold words. We could mark 
their surprise, and could see their faces as they 
turned away leaving him still in his place. ''Some 
mocked: and others said, We w411 hear thee again 
of this matter." The place where the altar was on 
which he read the inscription which gave him a text 
is still pointed out. Upon it stands a Christian 
church. Paul has been heard again. 

Nothing seems great after leaving the Acropolis 
and Areopagus. I can do little more than name 
some of the places which we visited. Close at hand 
is the Agora, the market-place of Athens. It was 
— I was about to speak of its ancient magnificence. 
But it is as well to stop with the was. There are 
ruins, and little besides. The most unsightly part 
of the city is now on the ground where trade and 
worship met in the best days of Athens. The 
market-place of the present is full of business and 
confusion. Manessi said that the buildings were to 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 219 

be removed that excavations might be made. It 
would be well to clear the ground and begin again, 
even if none of the ancient improvements were 
recovered. The Stoa of Hadrian is near, sometimes 
called his Gymnasium, a structure of great elegance 
in its day. Some of the fine columns which en- 
closed it are yet standing. The Tower of the 
Winds, or Horologium, is of marble, octagonal m 
form, having on each side, at the top, sculptures in 
relief which represent the different winds. On each 
wind is its name, upon the cornice. On each side 
was a sun-dial. The floor was arranged for a water- 
clock, for which the water was brought from the 
Acropolis. There was once a Titan on the summit, 
who served as a weather-vane. West of the Acrop- 
olis is the hill of the Pynx, out of whose rock was cut 
the place in which the Athenians held their political 
meetings. There was room for many thousands of 
people to be seated. Projecting beyond the solid wall, 
a part of the rock, was a cubic block, eleven feet long 
and broad, and five feet in height, resting upon a 
platform which was reached by wide steps. Other 
steps led to the top of the block. This was the 
Bema, on which the orators stood. It may have 
been that Demosthenes and Pericles stood there 
wdien they roused the people by their eloquence. 
We tried to reproduce the eloquence, but there was 
no response, and our audience was very small. The 
throngs no longer assemble on that spot. On the 
Museum Hill rises the monument of Philopappus, a 
Syrian. It was an elaborate structure, but much of 
it has fallen. One forgets that, when he sees the 



220 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

extensive view which the height affords him, over 
the cit)^, the country, the sea. On the side of the 
hill of the Museum is the prison of Socrates. Three 
chambers have been cut into the rock. Tn one of 
these, twelve feet by seven, the philosopher was 
confined, and there he died. Such is the tale, 
which, I believe, no wise man credits. This is a 
pity, as the rooms of stone have a prison-like appear- 
ance, and seem to fit into the story very well. 
Some part of the prison is now occupied by cattle. 
In the front of the hill are holes in which beams 
were placed for the roof of a projection of wood. 

The best preserved of the buildings of ancient 
Athens is the Theseum, commonly called the temple 
of Theseus, for the legendary hero who came to the 
aid of the Athenians at Marathon. The name of 
Theseus is denied to it, but there is no other to put 
in its place. So it stands with its wails and col- 
umns for general admiration because of its own 
merit. At one time it was dedicated to Christian 
worship and devoted to St. George, the dragon- 
killer. The interior is surprisingly small and very 
dreary. It is now used as a museum, but its curi- 
osities are not extensive. 

We went to the Burial Ground of Agia Triada, 
where excavations have brought to light many 
ancient tombs and statues. The treasures found 
in the tombs have been taken to the Polytechnic, 
a building for paintings and sculptures, with fine 
collections of antiquities from Mycenae and Egypt, 
At the entrance to the burial ground is a small, rude 
Greek church, which we entered. The bell had 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 221 

been doing its best to suminon a congregation, but 
we found no one except the two priests. As soon 
as we appeared, and as if they had been waiting for 
us, they began to recite something with great rapid- 
ity. Then a man came in and began to trim the 
lamps. Failing to find edification in the scene we 
withdrew, and the priests were relieved from the 
burden of ministering to us. Manessi said there 
was formerly a temple connected with this ground, 
which is yQTj likely. We did not see that, but we 
saw a wall which had the marks of advanced age, 
and which he said was Pelasgic. 

We examined the vegetable garden which holds 
the place of the Academy of Phito. A few pieces of 
broken marbles have been dug up and ranged in a 
row as witnesses to what may be still uncovered. 
That was all we saw which had an academic look. 
There is a very smajl church in the garden. These 
minute edifices are found almost always where a tem- 
ple has been. They do theii' best to keep up the 
character of the places. We wondered why there 
was not a persistent effort to find whatever may be 
hidden in this garden with so promising a name. 
Perhaps Plato did walk there with his scholars, 
though no footprints are to be discovered. We 
tried the pomegranates of the place, but there was 
not much refreshment in their seeds. 

There are two metropolitan churches in the city. 
The newer one is showy and large, and was built of 
material from seventy small churches and chapels 
which were destro5^ed in 1840. The smaller church 
is of more interest, because it was built of framnents 



222 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

of ancient buildings, whose old stones are well set 
together. 

But I must not prolong this catalogue. It can be 
hardly more than that. It may be a hint of some of 
the notable things in this wonderful city. In the 
days we were there we were able to get quite a clear 
idea of the position of the points of special interest, 
which we visited as often as we could. Mr. Garry 
added to our common explorations his private tours 
of discovery. He seemed never to be weary, and no 
other place interested him so much as Athens. It 
was pleasant and amusing for many a day to hear 
him boast of his knowledge. With great animation 
and not a little pride he would declare, " I can tell 
you where everything is. Say we're standing on the 
Acropolis. There's Mars' Hill. There's the tem- 
ple of Theseus. There's the prison of Socrates. 
There's the monument of — " " Philopappus ? " 
"Yes, Philopappus. There's the Stadium.*' And so 
again and again would he make himself the willing 
guide for any one who wished for information of 
this character. I have no doubt that many a com- 
pany among the mountains of Pennsylvania has 
followed his outstretched finger over the hills and 
houses of Athens. 

We had seen so much Pentelic marble that we 
riaturally desired to see the place from which it had 
been taken. In the morning we started early in 
a carriage which took, us to a monastery, which the 
guide-book told us was the wealthiest in Attica. If 
apj)earances could be trusted, the other monasteries 
of Attica must be poor. The buildings were old 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS, 223 

and their rooms were small, and had the bare look 
which has been thought becoming in places for 
meditation. Two or three monks who had no signs 
of wealth about them, unless a general shabby con- 
dition could be so regarded, were apparentlj^ in 
possession. We were informed that there were sev- 
enteen connected with the establishment. They 
have a custom, when a monk dies, of locking the 
door of his room and leaving it unoccupied. We 
saw several of these closed doors. If the monastic 
spirit should revive, so that these apartments were 
needed, I presume that new-comers would enter into 
the places of those who had passed on. It should be 
so, out of respect to those who had approved that 
method of life. A stray soldier or two hovered 
about the grounds, and two cats found a quiet abode 
in the hallowed precincts. The place now belongs 
to the government, Avhich seems to have no use for 
it. There is a grove of plane-trees near by and a 
spring of good water. We were established in a 
room from whose windows we had a fine view, and 
there we opened our baskets of provisions and had 
our lunch. Mules had been ordered to meet us 
at this place, and they made their appearance not far 
from the time when they were due. They had the 
saddle of the country, clumsy and hard enough for 
any purpose, too much so for our uses. I made 
my own tolerable by adopting General Taylor's 
method of riding, with both feet on one side of the 
beast. We soon found our ascending road paved 
with white marble, or, if not paved, it was covered 
with chips of marble, wliich made it attractive to the 



224 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

eye. Perhaps tlie mules would have preferred 
nature unadorned. Thus we came into the midst 
of the quarries out of which so much of old Athens 
had come. Temples and palaces had been broken 
from these white rocks. The stones had been cut 
into countless forms of grandeur and beauty. There 
seemed to be enough left for other cities. But all 
was as quiet as if the world had no more need of 
marble halls. We found a large grotto, and walked 
over its treacherous floor, with stalactites hanging 
above us and beside us. There was not much for us 
beyond. The clouds gathered sullenly, and the 
mists soon shut out from us the wide rgach of 
country we had hoped to look upon. It was dark and 
cold. The drizzle was as dismal as drizzle can be on 
a mountain. We pressed dismally through the wet 
obscurity, till hope utterly disappeared, and it was 
clear that nothing would be gained bj^ reaching the 
summit, or nothing but the summit. We turned 
the heads of our mules downward, and they slowly 
crept from rock to rock along the narrow path till 
their part of our excursion was over, and we could 
resume our carriage. But we had fine views in 
going up and when we had come below the rain, 
the plain of Marathon, Parnassus, and Hymettus, 
and far way Acrocorinthus, while the whole coun- 
try over which the eye wandered, and the long 
ranges of mountains, were full of delight. It was 
a very good day, even if it might have been better. 
A day was devoted to Eleusis. It is one of the 
fascinating names. It was hard to make it real that 
our feet could stand in the scene of the ancient 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 225 

mysteries : that a ride of two or three hours could 
carry us so much further beyond the world we had 
entered. But little is known of the religious rites 
which had their seat in Eleusis. They have re- 
mained mysteries. They were of a very venerable 
antiquity. It has been thought that they were 
older than the mj^thology of Greece, and had their 
origin in a time when men were more earnest in 
their thought and in more intelligent connection 
with nature. They concerned the world which lies 
outside of this, and the years which are beyond 
these, wdiich so often pass for the whole of life. 
They kept their influence as they came down 
through generations of men to whom, under the 
holiest sanction, they were imparted. In the early 
autumn, De meter, or Ceres, the goddess of the earth, 
in whose care were the fields, and their harvests, in 
the grea.t festival ^t Eleusis was honored with the 
splendid and impressive worship. Visitors came 
from all lands. From Athens to Eleusis twenty, 
thirty thousand people moved in procession along 
the sacred way. For nine days the festivities were 
maintained. Everj^ Athenian who was freeborn was 
required to receive initiation into the mysteries. At 
night, those who were to be instructed and admitted 
to the brotherhood were led through the darkness 
into the lighted temple, where they saw and heard 
what they could never reveal. The secret has been 
kept. But that the mysteries were of high value 
is evident. One writer has left the remark that 
'-' those who are initiated entertain sweet hopes of 
eternal life." In times of great peril a man would 



226 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

turn to his friend with the question on whose 
answer hope seemed to hang, " Are jou initiated? " 
It is said that the only secret of Eleusis which has 
come from the temple of Ceres consists in the mys- 
terious words, Konx, Ompax. 

We were very near the proper time for visiting 
Eleusis, but our solitary carriage would hardly pass 
for a procession. We took the proper course, over 
the sacred road, and ascended to the Pass of Daphni, 
where we stopped at the Daphni monastery. There 
was a temple there which is thought to have be- 
longed to Apollo. Some columns are still standing, 
and pieces of others grace the British Museum. 
The monastery is six hundred years old and looks 
as old as it is. There is a dome adorned with 
mosaics : and there are two empty tombs, and a few 
empty rooms, and the appliances of a common Greek 
church. A little beyond we passed a wall in which 
were small, irregular niches. This is what remains 
of a temple of Aphrodite. There were also large 
stones which belonged in the fortification with 
which the pass was formerly defended. The drive 
along the Bay of Eleusis was very pleasant. We 
had a fine chance to see Salamis again, and the Bay 
of Salamis, and to think upon the battle which 
Xerxes watched from his seat upon the Attic shore. 
Probably he enjoyed the reality less than we were 
pleased with the memory. 

The city of Eleusis in importance once stood next 
to Athens. It was the most sacred place in the 
pagan world. Its temple was the largest in Greece. 
It had the same architect as the Parthenon, and 



TO AND THROUGH ATHENS. 227 

was designed in the time of Pericles. Pentelicus 
furnished the marble for the house which was to do 
it honor. Of all this little is now to be seen. An 
insignificant village, whose name is of so little con- 
sequence that it is spelled in various ways, occupies 
the site of the grand edifice. Ruins there are, but 
even the ruins are mostly out of sight. The modern 
village was built upon the buried temple. The 
houses have now been removed, that the former 
house may be unearthed. A new village, or collec- 
tion of small buildings inhabited by a few men and 
women who seem to have been left over, represents 
the proud city. Eleusis was. The temple was so 
placed as to be conspicuous to the procession from 
Athens. Its white walls must have made a fine 
appearance. The ruins which have been brought 
to light give hints of the magnificence, and promise 
a fuller revelation^ We saw what was to be seen, 
and imagined the rest. The ruins of the old gates, 
a few bases of columns, broken stones with some- 
thing of their true character now i>pon them, make 
up essentially the architectural remains. The old 
church of Saint Zacharias was built entirely of 
stones which had served a grander purpose. With 
some delay, while the key and keeper could be 
found, we gained admittance to a sort of shed in 
which some fragments of stone are preserved, with 
their inscriptions and carvings. There was a paper 
plan of the place, which the venerable custodian 
offered to sell. Mr. Garry offered to buy it, and 
the price was agreed upon. It was one franc. The 
coin which was produced was pronounced by the 



228 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Eleusinian too much worn, and as our friend's 
patience was in the same condition the bargain 
fell through. In our rambles we came upon a man 
treading grapes. The grapes were on a stone floor 
having channels through which the juice ran into 
a small well, out of which it was to be dipped that 
it might be made into wine. It was a good object- 
lesson in temperance. No one would thirst for the 
wine who saw the process of manufacture. The 
wine-maker took us into his house, which was, for 
substance, one room. There was a table about a 
foot in height. In the corner were roUed-up beds. 
Two women and various children composed the fam- 
ily. One of the women took from the fire a mess 
of maccaroni over which she sprinkled cheese. This 
was the dinner of the household. Possibly it was 
also an exhibition for the benefit of the strangers. 
We saw, too, a very primitive loom. There was 
little besides. We found a rude sort of hostlery, 
where we brought out our provisions, and had a 
comfortable dinner. Then we took our way to- 
wards home. 

We were in Athens at the time of the ingathering 
of grapes. In the vineyard women and girls were 
picking the dusty clusters and dropping them into 
baskets to be taken to the presses. A few men 
superintended the work. The grapes were com- 
monly growing on what appeared like low bushes 
rather than vines. The pickers had the hard, 
bronzed look which comes from living out-of-doors, 
and, unless it . was seen from afar, there was no 
beauty in the work. It was not much like the 



TO AND THBOUGH ATHENS. 229 

pretty pictures which make one wish he could rest 
under the vines and refresh himself with the tempt- 
ing clusters. We saw goats in abundance in city 
and country. They are most useful animals, fur- 
nishing milk while they live, then giving their flesh 
for meat for the poor, and their skins for bottles. 
We saw some sheep and a few cows. In one field 
we noticed a herdsman with his flock, the sheep on 
one hand and the goats on the other. There were 
huts in which the shepherds and their families and 
flocks live in the winter, when they cannot be out 
upon the hills. The donkey is the beast of burden 
for the poor. He makes a comical appearance when 
loaded with immense baskets, with a man or woman 
at the top of the load ; or bearing masses of hay, or 
fuel, far beyond his own dimensions, till he looks 
like a shrunken mastodon with wings. In it all he 
is patient, and as obedient and docile as animals of 
his class are apt to be. 

We visited the University of Athens, if walking 
through groups of students, and then through the 
library and museum, and looking over a few manu- 
scripts, can be called a visit. We were courteously 
treated, and at less cost than if it had been an 
English university. There are four departments — 
Theology, Law, Medicine, and Philosophy, and an 
observatory. There are about fifteen hundred stu- 
dents, and sixty or more professors and teachers. 
On the same street is the Arsakion, a school for 
girls, and the largest in Greece. The American 
Classical School is on the other side of the city, 
where it has made a beginning in its important 



230 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

work. This is hardly the place for an appeal, yet 
I cannot resist the desire to say a word in behalf 
of scholarship and patriotism, as these are related 
to this school. It is now in hired rooms, where the 
director and his family have their residence. The 
government of Greece presented to the British 
school a piece of ground on the southern slope of 
Lycabettus, where a suitable building has been 
erected. The government has offered to the Amer- 
ican school a similar lot of land near that given to 
the English school, or in some other part of the 
city, if a different site is preferred. The money for 
the building has been provided. Surely there are 
persons enough who have an interest in such inves- 
tigations and studies as can best be pursued in 
Greece to make it a simple matter, and one not 
long to be delayed, to provide the few thousands 
of dollars which will raise this promising American 
institution to a becoming place among the schools 
of Athens. It will be a prominent witness to 
American learning, and will give us a share in a 
work in which it should be our delight to engage. 



CHAPTER VII. 

I]Sr AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 

How little I have said of Athens ! How small a 
part of all which we saw and thought can be trans- 
ferred to paper ! Our days were packed with 
interest. To be there was an unbroken delight. 
Whether we looked upon the old or the new, there 
was enough to keep the mind busy and to keep 
memory and imagination on the stretch. I find 
that I have written nothing of our visits at the 
house of the American minister, where, surrounded 
with orange-trees and flowers, he served his country 
and enriched the literature of the world. Nothing 
of Mr. Kalopothakes and his chapel, and the good 
work he is doing for his people. Nothing of the 
royal palace, with its tarnished glories, and its neg- 
lected park where we strolled in forbidden and 
unforbidden places, and came upon a sleepy lioness 
in whose cage courageous or initiated rats nibbled 
at a piece of raw meat, which they proposed to 
draw through the bars for consumption at their 
leisure. I have indulged in no moralizing, nor 
have I attempted to picture the future of Greece, 
when her energy and bravery shall have given her 
among the nations the place to which she is entitled. 
The past will not return, but better days than these 

231 



232 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

may come. They will not spring from the vine- 
yards, or be exhumed from the ruins. They will 
oome from the works of justice and liberty, of 
education and religion, which have made younger 
nations great. To one who spends a few days in 
Greece there seems to be a lack of enterprise and of 
an earnest spirit. They seem not to be keeping step 
with the swift movement of the years. Her cur- 
rency and her postage stamps in their insufficiency 
are small signs of large deficiencies. But from all 
this she will rise. Beside her ruins and over them 
will grow up the new Greece which will be worthy 
of the name. 

It was nine o'clock in the evening when we 
turned reluctantly from Athens. At the Piraeus 
we parted from Manessi, embarked in a sailboat, 
and were soon on board the steamer. We were 
most fortunate in our ship. The Titania was 
destined for the India trade and was then mak- 
ing an experimental voyage. Everything was new 
and neat. The state-rooms were large and conve- 
nient, and all the appointments were excellent, even 
to electric lights. Neither before nor after did we see 
so fine a steamer in those waters. It was at mid- 
night that we were to sail out of the harbor, but in 
the morning we were still there and still taking in 
freight. It was a good place to linger in. Our last 
look at the Parthenon, Hymettus, Lycabettus, and 
all which could be made out from the sea was im- 
pressive. Tenedos, Lemnos, Mt. Ida, and the site of 
Troy all appealed to us as we made our pleasant 
way across the ^gean. We entered the Darda- 



IN AND ABOUT COXSTAXTINOPLE. 933 

nelles, passing between the two forts on the opposite 
points between which Leander used to swim at 
night, for a worthier purpose than marked the simi- 
lar feat which has been performed there in our time 
by Mr. Webb. We stopped for a few moments and 
the waiting boats came off to us. From a row of 
buildino's on the Asiatic shore floated the flags of 
the nations which had their consulates there. On 
the last and most imposing of the series was the 
banner which is always so beautiful in a strange 
land. Then we jiassed through the Hellespont and 
across the Sea of Marmora and at midnight on the 
12th of October came to anchor before Constanti- 
nople. The next morning the city was somewdiat 
obscured by fog, which gave to the whole scene a 
spectral look. We moved farther on and again the 
boats gathered about us. It seemed a pity to leave 
a finer ship than we were to have again. But w^e 
took to the boats. Presently we were stopped be- 
side another boat, which belonged to the government 
of Turkey, and the passport of one of our company 
was held up before the proper official. T believe that 
it w^as an English document, but it Avas just as well, 
and we were allowed to land. At the quay other 
officers lay in w^aiting. Some satisfactory arrange- 
ment was made wdth them by the man who had us 
in charge, and our luggage was seized by porters who 
had a peculiar cushion on their backs upon which 
heavy loads could rest as the men carried them. 
Carriage or dray there was none. We formed in 
procession, guides, travellers, porters, and moved up 
the street, if street it could be called. It w^as very 



234 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

narrow, very steep, very dirty and rough, and 
thronged with men and dogs. I suppose the boats 
could have taken us to a better place, but that was 
not their way. The porters were to be provided 
for. We toiled on and at length reached our hotel, 
the Byzance. We were in Pera, the part of the city 
in which the English have their homes. On the 
other side of the Golden Horn is Stamboul, the old 
city, while Scutari is on the opposite side of the 
Bosphorus. The view of the city from the water is 
wonderfully fine. The illusion vanishes when one 
is on the land. We had, as usual, our local guide 
who bespoke our favor by presenting the book of 
the Hon. S. S. Cox, in which his name appears. He 
was Dionysius of Ithaca, and in his directions we 
had entire confidence. 

It has been very well said that there are four cit- 
ies which belong to the whole world. One of them 
we had just left. Of course Rome is another, and 
Jerusalem, while Constantinople must be the fourth. 
If the reader is not perfectly familiar with the posi- 
tion of the city, let him turn to his map and see 
what an unrivalled place was chosen for it. It is on 
the highway between the Mediterranean and the 
Black Sea, between the continents, while it is de- 
fended by two narrow straits which can be readily 
fortified and easily held, with hills and lakes pro- 
tecting it beyond its seas. It is the natural seaport 
for the vast extent of country which lies in every 
direction around its fine harbor. Chalcedon was said 
to have been founded by blind men, who could not 
see how much better was the other side of the Bos- 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 235 

phorus. The city has had rich natural advantages. 
But when it is asked what it has done for the 
world, what great gifts it has conferred, we cannot 
answer as when the question relates to either of the 
three cities which are named with it. Greeks from 
Megara laid the foundation of Byzantium in 667 B. C. 
The Persians held the city for a time, till it entered 
the Athenian Confederacy and came with Athens 
under the Macedonians, and then under Rome. 
Constantine enlarged the place and called it New 
Rome. But the people called it for the Emperor. 
Till 1453 it was the eastern capital of the empire. 
Then the Turks became its possessors. Mohammed 
II. assaulted the city, and with his army forced his 
way into it over its defences, and drove the Greeks 
to St. Sophia, where women and children, old men 
and priests, had taken refuge. They trod down the 
fugitives, and the conqueror riding upon their fallen 
bodies entered the church, and struck his bloody 
hand high up against a column. The mark remains. 
That heavy red hand has crushed out the life of the 
people. The mad cry of the conqueror, with its 
eternal truth and eternal lie, has been darkness on 
the land, and the inspiration of cruel centuries. It 
is impossible to tell the population of the city. 
Estinmtes vary from five hundred thousand to nine 
hundred thousand. They are of many nationalities. 
Turks, Bulgarians, Armenians, Circassians, Greeks, 
Africans, Franks form the motley throng which 
moves through the streets. Perhaps one-half of the 
people are Mohammedans. These are united by 
their religious faith, and united in their hostility to 



236 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

all others. The other half have a variety of beliefs, 
but a common hatred of the Turks. The Turks 
fear the Christians, whom they associate with Russia 
and its intentions. The Christians feel that the 
Turks would be as willing as in other days to 
destroy them, if the word was given. The Turk 
knows the power of the Christian States to whose 
influence he is obliged to submit. The Christian as 
he walks by St. Sophia sees this sanctuary profaned 
by the infidel and recalls the slaughter of his breth- 
ren. With all these causes of division, there is 
nothing in the government to inspire respect, or in 
the national life to encourage public confidence. 
Meanwhile the position of the city gives it impor- 
tance, and at once endangers and protects it. What 
the end will be, there is no prophet to declare. A 
change there must be, and a thorough one. It was 
with pride and thankfulness we saw that the best, 
most helpful, most promising institutions in Constan- 
tinople were American : — Robert College, the school 
at Scutari, and the Bible house with its printing- 
presses. The star in the west is rising with healing 
in its wings. 

There is a modern look about Pera. The stamp 
of France is on it ; on press, money, language, and 
manners. What is not Turkish, in the large .^ense, 
is French. We found some good streets and good 
shops. There were a few horses and carriages, but 
most persons trudged along in the middle of the 
street. We were looking for the native and his 
ways. Dionysius took us to the upper end of a 
tunnel through which cars ascend and descend. The 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 237 

force used is invisible. The trip lasts about three 
minutes, and is a great convenience. We were 
landed in Galata, below the high tower of the 
Gauls. This is the commercial part of the city, and 
is at the point where the Golden Horn and the Bos- 
phorus meet. We made our waj^ through the crowd 
to the bridge which is the chief thoroughfare be- 
tween Pera and Stamboul. The bridge is said to 
rest on boats. It is a free use of the name. The 
boats are huge iron boxes which are anchored in 
their places. Upon these are planks, worn and 
broken with much travel till they make a very 
uneven road. A dense stream of men and women 
is constantly passing to and fro. Stretched in a 
line across the way, at each end of the bridge, are 
men in long white frocks who are kept very busy 
collecting the toll. They have to jump briskly from 
one person to anotjier, but they miss nobody. There 
are beggars, too, who haunt the bridge, and with 
even more persistence, though with less reason and 
less success, seek tribute from the traveller. They 
whine, and smile, and pluck at your sleeve, and will 
not be denied, and are denied after alh They know 
the strangers, and devote their attention wholly to 
them. 

After crossing^ the brido^e we soon came to the 
bazaars. It is not easy to describe them. Let one 
think of a large market with its stalls, and extend it 
indefinitely, taking as many streets as he pleases 
into the enclosure, and he may have some idea of 
the general plan. Fill tliese countless stalls with 
goods of many descriptions, and the passages be- 



238 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

tween them with an equal variety of people, and let 
the place be the scene of incessant bargaining, and he 
may get a faint picture of the bazaars. The ways 
are rough and dirty. There is nothing attractive 
besides the goods, but a lively interest is maintained 
as one moves from street to street, studying customs 
and costumes, and setting his money and wit against 
the wit and wares of the dealers. There is a sys- 
tem of classification which is convenient. Thus 
you have the druggists' bazaar, the goldsmiths', the 
silk-merchants', devoted to their special sorts of 
merchandise. The whole scene is novel and spir- 
ited, but there is seldom any rudeness, and no one 
seems surprised whether his goods are taken or 
refused. It is literally a place of trade. No one 
thinks of getting or giving the price which is asked 
for anything. The dealer names a price and nego- 
tiation begins. It is proper to offer anything, bat 
not safe unless you are willing to be taken up. It 
needs a little hardening to make a good buyer. I 
was equal to considerable in the way of trade, but 
there was a line I could not cross. When I wished 
to make an extreme offer, from which my sense of 
propriety shrank, I resorted to Mr. Garry, who was 
fearless. The price would be five francs. " What 
do you want to give ? " " I'll give one franc." '' Let 
me have your money." Then taking the goods in 
one hand and the franc in the other he would push 
his hands alternately towards the astonished mer- 
chant, appealing to him all the while, " Which will 
you take? " It ended in his taking the franc, when 
the obliging broker would hand over the goods to me 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 239 

and the money to the merchant. I do not know 
what theory of philology Mr. Garry held. But he 
had facility in making himself understood, and was 
always willing to exercise his talent. He had learned 
something of colloquial German from living with 
Germans in Pennsylvania, and this served him well 
on some occasions. But he did nearly as well in 
Turkish and Arabic, and made up in patience and 
good-nature and pantomime what was lacking in 
language. 

The usual difficulties of trade are complicated in 
Turkey by the state of the currency, if currency it 
can be called. I doubt if any but old residents are 
masters of even practical finance in Constantinople. 
I made several attempts to get a working knowledge 
of it, but never succeeded. I committed to memorj^ 
tables of currency, but they always failed me when 
anything was to be paid for. I found out that forty 
paras made one piastre, which is about equal to 
twopence English. I find in my guide-book a pencil 
note in which I had calculated that twenty paras 
equal one-half a piastre; or a penny English. I 
know I was in a tight place when I made the reck- 
oning. A pound sterling is one hundred and ten 
piastres ; a Napoleon, eighty-seven and a half ; a 
twenty-mark piece, one hundred eight and a half. 
Then we continually heard of bechliks, which are 
five piastres. Altogether confusion was confounded. 
I have not stated all the difficulties, nor can I. The 
names bewildered us. The Turkish franc was worth 
three-fourths of a piastre more than the French. 
The money of Roumania was at a discount, because 



240 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the Roumanians had offended the Turks. The value 
of the piastre itself was uncertain. Thus a postage 
stamp was marked one piastre ; but if you offered 
that coin more was demanded, on the ground that 
the stamp meant a gold piastre. There is no gold 
piastre, so that it was necessary to add the difference 
between gold and silver to the actual coin to make 
it equal to the imaginary one. There was only one 
solution of the difficulty, and that lay in an appeal 
to Dionysius. Either he was requested to pay for 
me and put it in my account, or I offered him such 
money as I had on hand and let him select what was 
necessary. In this unsatisfactory state we wandered 
about the streets, and roamed through the bazaars 
where everything could be bought, from a string of 
perfumed beads to a diamond necklace; from a pair 
of wooden shoes to a last year's dress from the 
Sultan's harem, rich in velvet and heavy with gold. 
There was variety in the methods of the merchants. 
Some were in their stalls, busy with their goods ; 
some sat cross-legged waiting for the customers 
whom destiny might bring in their way ; while 
others, more enterprising, came outside and with 
politeness and persistence invited the strangers to 
enter and examine their goods. But everybody was 
good-natui"ed. Money-changers abound along the 
streets, but they keep a dear school in currency. 
There was a scarcity of change when we were in the 
city. I fancy it is a chronic trouble. It is a serious 
one. Not unlikely the ticket-seller at the railroad 
or steamer, who has j^ou at his mercy, will refuse 
the money you offer, because he cannot give you 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 241 

change, or will enforce a discount which will make 
you careful the next time. 

The mixed condition of things is somewhat in- 
creased by the two kinds of time which are kept. 
Civilized time is in common use, but you also find 
the Turkish, in which the day begins at sunset. 
They say that their style is the simpler, because no 
one can tell just when it is noon, but anybody can 
see when the sun sets. The daily paper publishes 
the time for the day, but I did not hear in what way 
the clocks are adjusted. It is well that the equa- 
nimity of the people is not easily disturbed. 

I must name some of the things which are to be 
seen in Constantinople. It can be little beyond 
naming. Dionysius took us to the cistern of a 
thousand columns. I think that he overstated the 
number. But there were hundreds of them. It was 
a reservoir in its day. The Turks filled it up to the 
depth of nearly two-thirds of the length of the col- 
umns, and the place is dismal in its disused condi- 
tion. We went to the tomb of the Sultans, or to 
the building which has that high-sounding designa- 
tion. There is the tomb of Mahmoud II., the re- 
former, and of his sisters and daughters, and of his 
son Sultan Abdul Aziz. The tombs are handsomely 
decorated after the Turkish manner and are faith- 
fully cared for. Mahmoud deserves the title of 
reformer, if he is judged in his own place. He 
improved roads, sent out ambassadors, enlarged the 
liberty of women, administered justice on an im- 
proved plan, but at the same time carried things 
with a high hand, and by his treatment of the 



242 SOME THINGS ABBOAI). 

officers of the realm, both in their person and their 
property, encouraged a perpetual revolt. It was a 
stormy time, full of perils. But it ended in 1839, 
and then followed the cahn repose in which we 
found him, where marble and gold enshrine his 
dust. We passed into an older time when we 
entered the Hippodrome. The place is dreary 
enough. We saw no running horses. I believe 
there were two or three horses moving around over 
the sandy plain, but there was noticing exciting or 
alluring. The interest of the place is in its three 
columns. One of them is an obelisk from Egypt 
which is in good order and is like Egpytian obelisks 
in general. There is also the column of Constantine 
VII. with which time has dealt less kindly. But far 
the most important of the three is the serpentine 
column. It came from Delphi, and is a lonesome 
remnant of the pagan days. Three brazen serpents 
twisted together, without their heads, and carrying 
an old and weary look, and the mutilation which 
must come in twenty-three centuries of a naughty 
world, make up what has been called '' probably the 
most remarkable relic that the world possesses." 
It may be so ; but standing there, despoiled of its 
fair proportions, and separated from the environ- 
ment of time and place which gave it meaning, it 
is not impressive. Not even its age can make up 
for that which it has lost. We saw another column 
in the city which has the merit of great antiquity. 
But it bears marks of time and violence and fire, 
and wears a pitiable aspect in the life of to-day. 
The first days which we spent in Constantinople 



JN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 243 

belonged in one of the festivals, and many of the 
shops were closed. But enough were open, and the 
city was full of stir. We made our way into a large 
court-yard before a mosque, and found it nearly full 
of people engaged in holiday pursuits. Children 
were riding and swinging, and men were strolling 
about trying to be contented and to look at ease, 
and women were sitting on the steps and watching 
the crowd through th^ir veils. The only disorder 
we saw was where a woman had removed her veil. 
The police appeared and commanded her to cover 
her face. They used the language of the police, 
which is the same in all countries. The woman 
refused. A crowd gathered and clamor began. 
Matters grew serious, and we waited to see what 
would come of it. There could be but one result. 
Threats prevailed, and the woman drew her veil 
over her unattractive beauty. Why call this ab- 
surd? It is the land of the absurd. Very little in 
Turkish usages does not suggest that idea to a 
traveller from the West. But shall not a country 
have its own customs ? The veil but partially con- 
ceals the face of the wearer. Between the upper 
and lower folds may be seen the black eyes, which 
turn in curiosity towards the passing stranger. 
Nature will have her way. The Avomen do not 
seem disturbed when a stranger looks at them, 
but the men regard it as a grave offence which they 
are quick to resent. Many of the dresses of the 
women are very showy. The contrast between 
the wearer and the garb are often very striking. 
It is amusing to see through the thin veil the face 



244 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

of a negress who gains by concealing her personality 
in the general attire of womankind. 

It is a pity that the Turkish dress has been so much 
cast aside. French fashions have too far supplanted 
among the men what in the Orient at least is superior. 
If it had ended there, it would have been bad enough. 
But the young Turk has borrowed the vices of a 
nation whose virtues he has overlooked, and grafted 
them upon his own stock of weakness and wicked- 
ness. A company of persons of this sort is not 
a pleasant sight, or a hopeful one. The richer peo- 
ple, although claiming what rank there is, have less 
character and worse habits than the poor whom they 
despise and oppress. There is not much of the real 
Turk blood in the people, and the mongrel race 
which holds the ground now has little to commend 
it. If there is a future for Turkey it must come from 
without. There is no power of reform under the 
Crescent and the bloody hand. The years as they 
pass will bring in something for a land which has 
cast away its opportunities ; for a people which has 
deserved a respectable government and a decent 
religion, and has had neither. 

Constantinople is a walled city, that is the old part, 
Stamboul. The walls enclose all but that which lies 
along the Golden Horn. It had walls in Constan tine's 
time. Theodosius built outside of these, and his walls 
were kept up till the Turks came into possession. 
The wall on the land side is stronger than that by 
the sea, being double, with a deep moat and large 
towers. Portions of the walls have fallen, and the 
marks of sieges and attacks are yet upon the stones. 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 245 

As a defence they would be of small use. The 
government values them so little that it needed 
the interposition of the British Ambassador to save 
them from destruction. The Turks have taken the 
precaution to wall up a small gate in deference to a 
tradition that at some time a Christian army will 
come through, and they will be sent back to the 
places which they should never have left. There is 
a similar gate with a similar tradition at Jerusalem. 

It is not easy to give any idea in words of the 
chief religious edifice of the city, the Church of St. 
Sophia. It was a Christian church before it sunk 
to a mosque. The building has kept its original 
character better than any other Christian church of 
the very early days. Constantine founded it, Jus- 
tinian rebuilt it, Mohammed II. degraded it. The 
fourth, sixth, and fifteenth centuries have thus 
worked upon it. It has received some renovation 
in our own day. It was built of light bricks and 
lined with marble. Justinian brought eight porphyry 
columns from the ruins of Aurelius' Temple of the 
Sun, at Rome, for the adornment of this church and 
the support of its roof. Other columns were brought 
from the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, and from the 
Temple of the Sun at Baalbec, and from other 
famous eastern shrines. The church was of the 
highest type of oriental architecture. It is rectan- 
gular in shape, with a massive dome, one hundred 
and six feet in diameter, and very flat, so that it is 
hard to see what keeps it in its place. The walls 
and roof were resplendent with mosaics. The mar- 
ble glittered with gold. Nothing of skill or cost 



246 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

was spared in the decoration. Prophets, bishops, 
and cherubim looked down into the sanctuary and 
added to its sacredness. Against all this the Turk 
protested, and when the church passed into his 
hands, some mosaics disappeared and others were 
covered with whitewash or plaster. They feared 
that the image might lead to idolatry. Through the 
thin covering the outlines of the figures can now be 
seen. Some of the mosaics have been copied. 
Much of the splendor has been lost. We read of 
the choir whose screens had silver columns and 
rails; and of the golden altar adorned with precious 
stones, and the high tabernacle of silver which was 
over it ; and of the hangings embroidered with gold ; 
and the pearls and gems which encircled the pre- 
cious stones. This has passed away. But the 
house is there. The Mohammedans hung up texts 
from the Koran, and wrote others in massive letters 
about the dome ; and below the dome they painted 
four archangels, or four groups of six wings as sym- 
bols of the beings whom no man has seen. 

The whole effect of the sacred edifice is most 
impressive. Space, grandeur, unity appeal to the 
mind and heart. The history of the church en- 
hances the impression. Here the Byzantine Emper- 
ors were crowned, and the Greek and Latin Churches 
were joined in a bond easily severed : and the last 
scene in the death of the empire was enacted, when 
the red hand and the red scimitar made the mark 
upon the pillar of stone. The false prophet has 
long held the house. But the old occupants are 
looking through the veil which was thrown over 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 247 

them, and we noticed that when the large cross was 
torn from the door the mark of it remained. It 
could be replaced in precisely its old position, even 
to the nails which kept it in its place. Some day it 
will go back, and the house will revert to the people 
from whom it was taken away, and be once more a 
Christian church. 

When we came to St. Sophia we thrust our feet 
into commodious slippers, and then shuffled our way 
over the straw matting which covered the floor. 
Very few persons were in sight and we saw none of 
the worship. But we did mark the wonderful 
beauty which surrounded us and gazed with rare 
interest upon the roof, walls, pillars, the sacred 
texts and half-seen mosaics ; the thrones of the 
preachers and the dignitaries of church and state, 
and the recess where the Koran is laid, and the places 
for the men who come to worship. We saw the 
square raised platforms where a family can gather 
for devotions, as we enter our pews and shut our- 
selves in. One column has the name of Helena. 
There is a small hole in it, and into this men put 
their hand and touch their eyes, that healing may 
come to them. We saw the process many times 
repeated, but perceived no benefit. Women, of 
course, do not attend the public services in the 
mosque, but sometimes they may be seen seated on 
the floor when there is no service, and sometimes a 
priest may be seen giving them appropriate counsel. 
All this will be improved when the cross is again on 
the door. 

The interior of St. Sophia is very much finer than 



248 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

that of any other mosque. They are usually very 
bare and dreary buildings. That which bears the 
name of Suleiman, or Solyman, the Magnificent, has 
a very fine exterior, much superior to that of St. 
Sophia, but within it is far below it, and it has 
much less historic interest. Its name is grand, as 
that of the great sultan who enlarged the power of 
the Ottoman Empire and advanced its literature and 
art. He was borji about the time that Columbus 
discovered America. We admired his mosque, but 
were more interested in the mosque of Bajazet. Its 
court-yard was a busy place. There were letter- 
writers ready to put on paper the thoughts which 
others had but could not express. They were not 
doing much work just then. We were more pleased 
with the pigeons which resort to this yard to be fed. 
They came in large numbers, and fliocked about 
those who had grain for them. They were regarded 
as sacred and were without fear. The service 
which they had rendered in a former generation 
was remembered to their advantage. 

Dionysius took us through the Greek quarter. It 
was a long and tiresome walk over the rough streets. 
But he was patriotically bent on our seeing what 
related to his country and religion. There are 
twenty-one Greek churches reported in the old city, 
and the Greek patriarch has his seat there. We 
visited the Church or Cathedral of St. George. I 
suppose this is the St. George who has been honored 
as the patron of chivalry and held in special venera- 
tion in both the east and the west. It is impossible 
to trace his history. It ended in martyrdom, after 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 249 

an active and useful career. The dragon which he 
conquered was the symbol of pagan power wliich 
persecuted him. Soldiers have asserted a personal 
claim to him because the legends show him as a sol- 
dier. The Hellespont was once called St. George's 
Arm. I trust T am not giving the church to the 
wrong George. In the church are valuable treas- 
ures. The hand of St. Andrew is among them. 
There are the bodies of other saints. The throne 
and pulpit and book-chest of St. Chrysostom are 
there. Above the gate are the nails on which one of 
the patriarchs was hanged. I think he was a patri- 
arch. The nails and the story are still there, if any 
one wishes to investigate the matter. One is less 
curious and critical in such affairs when he is on the 
ground, somewhat hurried and with a crowed of things 
to be seen and remembered. We saw the hole in 
the ground in which was laid the body of Constan- 
tine, the last of the Greek emperors. The grave is 
walled around, but has a neglected look. The Turk 
does not allow any care to be given to it, we were 
told. An old lantern hangs over it. Constantine 
deserved a better fate. He stoutly defended the 
city against the Turks in 1463, refusing all com- 
promise, and when the walls were stormed he 
was killed. His body was found among a heap of 
his slain soldiers, and was recognized by the golden 
eagles which were embroidered on his shoes. 
Mohammed was generous enough to give the body 
an honorable burial, but the head had been cut off 
before this was done. There is a story that the 
head was sent as a trophy through Persia and 



250 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Arabia. It would not have been out of keeping 
with much that was done, but it is doubtful if this 
particular thing ever took place. Not far from the 
grave of the fallen emperor is a sort of iron cage in 
which is the grave of the man who killed him. He 
thought he was doing good service, but when the 
deed was done and confessed and proved, the con- 
queror had the man beheaded. There are some 
people whom it is very hard to please. It is a good 
old church, and has good right to the honorable 
place it holds in a city which the Greeks founded 
and lost, but may regain. 

The Armenians and the Jews have their districts, 
but of these I will not speak. I must say a word of 
the Seraglio Palace, which is on the point where 
Stamboul pushes into the sea. This point is cut off 
from the rest of the peninsula by a wall. It was 
here, it is thought, that the earliest settlement was 
made. As you look at this point on the map, you 
think at once of the end of Cape Cod. But on the 
plan of the city, instead of Provincetown you see 
the summer harem. There the emperors lived in 
the early days, and the sultans after them, in a large 
fortress and palace, where cruelty could be con- 
cealed and crimes of every character be committed 
in safety. It was easy to sew in a sack any living 
obstacle, any officer who resisted, any favorite whose 
charms had fled, and to drop the bag from the walls 
into the sea which is long in giving up its dead. 
Fire has always had a large opportunity in the city, 
and it has strewn the point with ruins. Something 
of the palace remains. A museum preserves in 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 251 

disorder monuments of art which have been brought 
from Asia Minor and the Isles of Greece. Utterly- 
neglected, they form heaps of treasure. There is, 
also, the Church of St. Irene, the Holy Peace, which 
is a fine specimen of Byzantine architecture, though 
it has lost its true character, and is now a temple of 
war, with its walls adorned with swords and lances 
and rifles, w^iile cannon with their balls rest idly on 
the consecrated floor. The beauty and honor of the 
place have departed, the shame has become inactive, 
the weapoi]s are harmless ; but the tall cypresses 
mark the spot, and draw to it the attention of the 
stranger, who asks what is there, and hears the tale 
of the changes which have been wrought for better 
and for worse. 

I can say so little of all which should be said of 
this confused city that it matters little where I stop. 
There are hospitals, baths, schools, libraries, papers, 
but it does not seem worth while to write much 
about them. Some of the hospitals have provisions 
for Christians. The baths are for anybody who 
likes them. That there are many such persons is 
evident from the two thousand public places which 
are provided. We tried the Turkish bath in the 
home of it. We had the wetting, drenching, drown- 
ing, rubbing, warming, with a bed and a cup of 
coffee as a finale. I cannot call it agreeable. The 
attire of the boy who inflicted himself and the water 
upon us was extremely scant. But he did his work 
thoroughly. The effect was good. To have the 
process end was as good as any part of it. We 
could not then have left Turkey without this per- 



252 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

sonal experience, but at another time we could 
do so. 

Education is not in a flourishing condition in this 
city. It would be too perilous to all the institutions 
to have the people know anything. Reading and 
prayers are taught in the lower schools, and there 
are schools for adults. But the grade is low and 
will be kept so. The military schools are better, 
and there are other professional schools. The libra- 
ries belong to the mosques, and are of small service, 
though old manuscripts may be buried in them. 
What would be found in a small Western city, and 
would abound in a capital, cannot be seen in this 
metropolis. The government has no interest in 
such things, and the people make no demand for 
them. Hence there is a noticeable absence of 
museums, art-galleries, libraries. High Schools, and 
other marks and products of civilization. The 
reason is plain. Go back to St. Sophia and see 
again the mark of the red hand. Civilization is 
impossible under its palm, beneath its knuckles. It 
has no fondness for learning. Thought it dreads; 
life it crushes. It veils its women and blinds its 
men. 

No one mentions Constantinople without speaking 
of its dogs. They are there. It would be an exag- 
geration to say that the streets are paved with them, 
but one keeps his eyes down as he walks. The dogs 
lie quietly and heavily where he would tread. He 
steps over them and they do not stir. He would 
not dare to kick them. The dogs might not care, 
but there are men who would resent such an innova- 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 253 

tion. It is hard to rouse the animals from their 
repose by any moderate suggestion with the foot. 
They are not handsome — far from it. They have 
all one look. They are useful as scavengers. Their 
fondness for bones is the relief of their owners. 
You cannot say that the streets are kept clean by 
them ; but you do not see in the dirt anything tliat 
a dog could eat to advantage. T said owners. Bat 
private ownership does not prevail to any extent. 
The dogs are a public institution. They have their 
districts, like their betters. The dogs of any quar- 
ter are its defenders against all comers. A dog who 
ventures on the precincts of otliers is the common 
enemy. For the time being sleep is over, and the 
canine host advances on the intruder, who pulls 
down his flag and retreats. 

The most evident sign of tlie life of the world 
wdiich the city affords is the Tramway. Horse-cars 
in Constantinople have a modern look. I think the 
cars were taken from America. They run on a plan 
of their own. The intervals between their startings 
vary. They are fond of keeping together, so that 
you may see many when you want but one, and wait 
a long time before another group comes your way. 
They pass around the outside of the city and wan- 
der into the country. There are steam railroads 
also, which conuect with Adrianopole and various 
other places. Steamboats are running to and from 
the city all the time. But the boats are old and 
poor, and we found too many passengers for our 
comfort. The Golden Horn is a great thoroughfare. 
The name is said to have been taken from the vast 



254 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 

shoals of fish which came down from the Black Sea 
and were captured in these waters. The trade was 
so brisk and lucrative that the name " Golden " was 
set upon the horn of plenty. We found a motley 
collection of fellow-passengers whenever we jour- 
neyed where the fish used to come : Turks of many 
grades, and men of other nationalities ; women in a 
place curtained off for their seclusion ; beggars, of 
course; and once a ragged hermit, who was seeiving 
alms. There was no conceivable reason for showing 
this last beggar any favor. Nothing in his person 
or his trade commended him, and he seemed aware 
of this. Superstition must have fallen lower than 
usual before it could encourage his peculiar style of 
rags and laziness. There are many objects of inter- 
est in a sail through the Golden Horn. We saw in 
the distance the place of the Sweet Waters ; saw 
the ruined palace of Belisarius, whose victorious life 
had so disappointing an end. It is denied that in 
his last days he wandered a blind beggar through 
the streets of the city which had honored him afore- 
time. But he was impoverished, and he did spend 
in prison the most of his last year, because he had 
conspired, it was charged, against the life of Jus- 
tinian. Nowhere are the vicissitudes of fortune more 
seen than in these eastern lands, where home and 
life are held by so slight a tenure. We passed, also, 
in the Golden Horn a showy building of brick and 
stone in which a Greek school is established. The 
building had an encouraging appearance, and gave 
signs of life. There are many wooden houses in the 
city and on the shores of the sea. The villages come 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 255 

to the very shores of the Bosphorus, as on tlie Swiss 
and Italian lakes. The street cries are very harsh 
and loud. But the people in general seem to be 
good-natured, either content with their lot, or in 
despair of improyement. Time and fate roll on 
together, and the people go with them. 

But there are better things in this great city than 
these of which I have been speaking. The outer 
and truer world has begun to flow into the gates 
which have been reluctantly opened. Life and 
light are to be found wdiere domes and minarets 
rise oyer darkness and death, striving to shut them 
in. We may well be grateful that American enter- 
prise has found a place within and without the walls 
where it is working for the sake of the Name. 

One morning we went on board a steamer at the 
old bridge, wdiich is the common pier for the steam- 
boats, and turned up the Bosphorus. We sailed 
past the Sultan's palace, whose long white front 
makes a fine appearance. It looks very pure with- 
out. We could not see what was within. We saw 
on the hill a smaller palace in w^hich the Sultan was 
at that time residing. There were pah^ces for the 
Pashas, also, and an attractive building at the 
'' sweet waters of Asia," which we were told was 
a summer resort for bathing and other recreation. 
It w^as a fine ride which we had over the w^inding 
course of the Bosphorus, among its rocky hills and 
quiet villages. We Avent up far enough to look 
through the entrance into the Black Sea and then 
turned back. On the return trip we left the steamer 
at Roumeli Hissar, the station from which Robert 



256 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

College is reached. But we were far enough from 
the college itself, which we could see above us. 
We admired the sagacity of the founder who had 
built upon the hill. We knew that the view from 
the college must be fine, for the large stone edifice had 
a very commanding site. We soon began to doubt 
the sagacity of the founder, as we toiled wearily up 
the steep and rough path to the classic grounds. 
When we were in the college grounds, there was 
still an ascent to be made before we reached the 
building. We thought that the hill of learning 
must yield excellent and abundant fruit to attract 
students. But the climb brought its usual reward. 
The view was, — but mj adjectives were long ago 
exhausted. Say it was extensive, superb, magnifi- 
cent, not to be excelled by any school in the world. 
We looked down on the Bosphorus and far away 
beyond it. We looked back upon the city and the 
waters which enclose it. The eye wandered from 
height to height, finding everywhere somethiug to 
admire. Below the hill were the old towers of 
Mohammed 11. with others on the opposite shore. 
This is the narrowest part of the Bosphorus, and 
from this point boats were carried by Mohammed 
over the land and launched in the Golden Horn. 
If the towers could but have followed the builders ! 
Below the hill, again, on the city side, could be seen 
the modest building of the Bebek Seminary, where 
good work was formerly done by American mission- 
aries. The building of Robert College is large and 
substantial. It seems strong enough for a fortress, 
and its massive stone walls could stand a siege. 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE. 257 

This appearance was enhanced by the iron gratings 
at the windows, which are very strong in the lower 
story. There have been times when the need of 
these bars was felt, and no one can tell when 
Mohammed may come up the hill, and discarding 
his old towers, assault the citadel which imperils 
the tyranny and cruelty and ignorance which are 
dear to his heart. He was very unwilling to have 
the college built. First, land was promised. Then 
came weary years of waiting. Negotiation yielded 
nothing. Permission to build could not be obtained. 
Lay this book aside, and read the story of the col- 
lege told by the only man who knows it. Cj'rus 
Hamlin, the learned scholar, the ingenious mechanic, 
the man of inventions, the devoted missionary; 
wise to teach, skilful to devise, patient in waiting ; 
who could give to the people whom he had sought 
the bread of life, and at the same time feed them and 
the English army of the Crimea with bread ; whose 
genius and courage stood guard around the impov- 
erished Christians, while he planned the deliverance 
of the land ; whom no duplicity could deceive, and 
no obstacles discourage; — his name and deeds de- 
serve the renown which attends them wherever they 
are known. A boatload of bread for the army 
brought the missionary into connection with Chris- 
topher Robert, and out of that meeting sprang the 
college which bears the name of the New York mer- 
chant. The timely arrival of Admiral Farragut and 
his fleet, and a question quietly asked at the Sultan's 
table by the American sailor, secured the permission 
which had been waited for in vain, and at length 



258 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the walls of stone towered over the Bosphorus. 
There are tiraes when the American flag floats from 
its lofty staff. The Turk does not like to see it 
there. But the late American minister said that if 
any serious objection was made he would have an 
oflice in the building, which would keep the flag of 
his country over the American college of Turkey. 

The building is constructed around a square court, 
and on the sides of this are the rooms for the stu- 
dents and for the officers who live in the college. 
At the time of our visit there were two hundred and 
seventeen students. There were twenty-five or thirty 
Protestants among the students. The students are 
of various nationalities, but the Turk rarely is found 
among them. The language of the college is Eng- 
lish, but instruction is given in fourteen other 
languages. Latin is required, and Greek taught 
without being required. The students were re- 
ported as very ready in learning from text-books 
and lectures, but lacking in those qualities of mind 
and character which come from constant intercourse 
with thinking people. They have not been trained 
to observe and discuss ; to read the papers, and to 
have an active interest in public affairs. They come 
to college without this sort of discipline which the 
youth of America have from their childhood. Time 
will change this in some measure. The college is 
doing excellent work, and in many directions. The 
results are very encouraging. A broad Christian 
training is given ; and this lasts, and repeats itself 
when the students have gone out to their work. 
The appointments of the college are good, but 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE, 259 

should be much better. It was fairly pitiful to 
look at the lean library shelves and the starved 
cases of apparatus for scientific study. There is a 
fine chance to invest money, if any one wishes to 
give for Christian manhood, for civilization and 
liberty. President Hamlin is now in America, where 
he has just closed a useful college presidency. But 
President Washburn will carry forward the grand 
work which has been so finely begun, and widen its 
proportions, and in this will have tlie devoted service 
of his associates. Let me ask the reader again to 
lay aside this book long enough to draw a check in 
favor of Robert College, Constantinople. Thus I 
put my small boat-load of bread where some large- 
hearted man may come. 

Another day we crossed the Bosphorus and landed 
at Scutari. Some of the party washed to see the 
ground wheie the English soldiers who died in the 
Crimean war were laid. I preferred to see life, and, 
under the guidance of an American young lady 
whose delight it is to teach in Turkey what she 
learned in New England, I went to the Girls' School, 
which is more commonly known as the Constanti- 
nople Home. The school is in fine buildings which 
belong to the Woman's Board of Missions, and they 
are finely situated where they look over the Bospho- 
rus and the Sea of Marmora and up the Golden 
Horn. A hundred and thirty girls, or about that 
number, were found to be connected with the school. 
The teachers are young ladies, Americans, who have 
a little help from non-resident masters. The scholars 
are Bulgarian, Armenian, a few Turkish, and a few 



260 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

are from English and American families. After 
graduation many become teachers, thus extending 
the influence of the school. The appointments are 
modern and homelike, such as might be found in 
the schools of our own country. The girls assist in 
the domestic work, Avhich is of especial advantage 
to them, and will be felt in their homes. The dor- 
mitories are arranged for four, six, eight, twelve 
scholars. A girl would be lonely and homesick if 
she were put in a room by herself or with only one 
companion. But each girl has a closet, three or four 
feet square, in which she can keep her personal 
treasures, and secure retirement when she desires it. 
The customs of the country are regarded so far as it 
is expedient. The girls would hardly know w^hat to 
do with the pitcher and bowl which are found in our 
chambers. But as a substitute for water poured 
over the hands they hold their hands under a long 
pipe which has numerous faucets, and thus combine 
ancient usage and modern conveniences. The schol- 
ars are fond of music and carefully instructed in it. 
The whole aim is to make them intelligent, refined, 
Christian women, who shall brighten the homes in 
which woman has been allowed to do so little, and 
shall thus enlighten the land. 

The ladies in charge of the school spread their 
table for us, and we had the great pleasure of break- 
ing bread with them in their own house — an Amer- 
ican home in a strange land. I have brought no 
more pleasing picture from the East than that which 
is clear in my mind as I write — that cheerful room 
with its wonderful outlook : the fair table and its 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE, . 261 

hospitality ; the simple elegance, the sweet serenity, 
the earnest temper, the ministering spirit, the in- 
spired hope, and, best of all, the American women 
themselves, who in their youth, the days of their 
gladness, when the years were lying at their feet, 
have carried their life where it will become life for 
other women, and make the name and the grace of 
Him who was born of woman familiar to the ear 
and precious to the heart. The young lady of whom 
I first spoke had been a teacher in the school at 
Scutari, but had left it that she might engage in 
missionary work at Stamboul. We saw her in her 
new home, the house of Mrs. Schneider, so long and 
so well known in connection with the missions in 
Turkey. She was engaged when we were there in 
what we should call city missionary work. With 
her assistants she was holding a Sabbath-school in 
her own home, wliich was attended by two hundred 
scholars, of various ages, who were interested in the 
effort which was made for them. The teaching was 
i.i several languages and was followed with good 
results. Besides this was the work for individuals 
and families, so far as these could be reached. So 
long as it is with extreme peril that a Mohammedan 
becomes a Christian, the direct and open influence 
of the mission must be restricted. But the work is 
well planned and must continue to prosper. It was 
a real pleasure to come so near to so good an enter- 
prise. I cannot refrain from expressing the delight 
Ave had in seeing in Constantinople that Yankee 
institution, the Doughnut. It was refreshing to 
partake of this missionary bounty and the cup of 



262 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

tea which was given with it. The room we sat in 
has a very cheery look as I recall it — a bit of home 
in a very unhomelike place. 

At the front of mission work in Turkey is the 
Bible House in Constantinople. It is a large build- 
iijg, substantial and plain, with a look of perma- 
nence and enterprise upon it. We found it the 
scene of an earnest life. Its printing-presses were 
busy, and the work of publication going forward 
with great zeal. It is furnishing a Christian litera- 
ture for Turkey. School-books and religious books 
and papers in different languages are constantly sent 
out. Its book-room is like an armory, furnished with 
many kinds of weapons for the overthrow of iniquity 
— weapons which will work surely and steadily, if 
they make little noise. The men who administer 
the affairs of this institution are diligent and alert, 
well qualified for the difficult work intrusted to 
them, and patiently carrying it forwai'd. When v/e 
were there they had received some encouragement 
through opposition. A Turkish newspaper had 
been printing a series of violent articles against 
Christianity, and these had been collected in a book. 
I saw the book, but had not time to read it. I must 
not say much of its contents, lest the erudition should 
be revamped here and put upon the market. But, 
among other things, the learned writer said that 
Saul of Tarsus wished to marry Gamaliel's daughter, 
and, when the course of true love did not run 
smoothly, became vexed and turned Christian ; and 
that Paul and Peter quarrelled so much that the 
emperor was pained in his heart and put them both 



IN AND ABOUT CONSTANTINOPLE, 263 

to death ; that Luther sold indulgences until Tetzel 
undersold him, when he became a Protestant. I 
need not multiply these fragments of history. They 
interested the people. The sale of Bibles increased 
for a short time. One of the missionaries seized the 
occasion to prepare an account of Christianity, 
which the same paper published, adding comments 
by way of counteraction. Perhaps not much came 
of this movement ; but it is suspicious on the one 
side, and liopeful on the other, when a man begins to 
read. If a Turk should really begin to think, who 
can say what might not come to pass ? The fear of 
the Turks is both amusing and suggestive. De 
Amicis' book on Constantinople was not only seized 
at the Custom House, but burned. There is a natu- 
ral and wholesome fear of hymns. People might 
learn to sing if they did not learn to read. Hymns 
with "king" and "kingdom" in them are condemned. 
"Hold the Fort" aroused the fears of one magis- 
trate. " The children are gathering from near and 
from far " has been condemned. But not hymns 
alone are watched. There was an innocent Sabbath- 
school book on conquering giants, and, though the 
giants were of a moral or immoral character, the 
word had to be changed to "spiritual enemies." A 
man published a series of fables, one of ivhich 
brought in the ignis fatuus^ which he called the "star 
bug." The sultan's palace is known as the " star 
palace," and this story was regarded as a reflection 
upon him and his residence. They told me a story 
of a safe which remained in a part of the wall of an 
old building which had been destroyed. It had not 



264 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

been used for a long time, and the key could not be 
found. The police were alarmed. They demanded 
the lost key, but it was in vain. In vain w^as the 
assurance that there was nothing in the safe. Who 
knew that? They would see. Police and soldiers 
and workmen gathered, and an admiring group of 
spectators, to uncover the treason. It was a long 
job ; but at last the door was forced open, and some- 
thing was found in the safe — an old umbrella and a 
pair of overshoes. Then the laugh went round, and 
the chaffing. These are small things, but they 
manifest the constant fear of the government. No 
one can be trusted. A perpetual Avatchfulness is 
the price of tyranny. From the sultan to the 
beggar no man can count upon life or liberty, to say 
nothing of the pursuit of happiness. Uneasy lies 
the head wdiich is under the red hand. 

We attended one service at the Crimean Memorial 
Church. It is a fine house. A hundred persons 
were present. The service was restful and pleasing, 
though for the most part its words could not be dis- 
tinctly heard. Fortunately, we knew the most of 
them by heart. The American flag was there, and 
that is always a good thing to look upon. Here, 
then, I close these rambling notes on Constantinople 
— with an English church, with memories of the 
Crimea, and under the American flag. They all 
mean life. It will come. The crescent is very thin. 
By and by it must change and grow wider and then 
wider, till the full, round moon looks down upon the 
Bosphorus and silvers the waters of the Golden 
Horn. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

FEOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 

On Thursday the 18th of October we were taken 
to the steamer Oreste, Some of the ships of the 
Austrian Lloyds had been detained by the quaran- 
tine, so that one of the smaller steamers was put on 
this route for this voyage. It was an unfortunate 
time for the substitution. Many of the people of 
these regions, who had been driven northward 
through fear of cholera, chose to return in this 
steamer. The result is evident. The ship was 
crowded to the last degree. When we went on 
board, the upper deck was in possession of the 
natives. They were settling into their places, and 
seemed likely to leave no place for any one besides. 
We gained a foothold in one corner and waited. 
Strange faces and costumes crowded about us, and 
strange voices added to the confusion. After a time 
the Moslems were huddled together on one side of 
the deck, and the other side was given up to us, 
while a fence separated the two parties. Our neigh- 
bors were only women and children. For the most 
part they spent their days and nights in the same 
place. The men were quartered on the deck below, 
and some women and children were with them. It 
was always an interesting episode to watch the 

265 



266 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

arrival of the families of the country, as we had 
frequent opportunities of doing. They came with 
huge bundles of bedding, and with provisions for 
the passage. They found as good situations as they 
could, using as much care as more favored voyagers 
employed in securing state-rooms. A pile of boxes 
or a row of barrels offered a desirable site for 
a home ; or the elevated hatchway, which had 
the disadvantage of instability, as the family 
had to move whenever the hold was opened; or 
a more or less protected place under the lee of the 
high rail or the friendly house. In some selected 
if not sequestered spot housekeeping was carried 
on. In fine weather there was a reasonable amount 
of comfort. When showers came up, an awning was 
spread for protection, but the quarters lost the 
attractiveness they had in the warm sunshine. 
The scene was novel and picturesque, and we 
enjoyed watching the separate families as they pre- 
pared their coffee at their little fires, and at night 
as they made readj^ to encamp, or as the dim lantern 
cast its feeble light on the slumbering groups. The 
men passed their time in smoking, playing cards, 
and eating, as the slow hours moved on. Now and 
then those who were separated froTii their house- 
holds would come up to our deck bringing water, and 
offering to the women such attentions as circum- 
stances required and permitted. The women sat in 
stolid silence all the day, smoking cigarettes, and 
staring out over the sea, while their vacant faces 
gave no sign of life or thought. There w^as one 
little family of a better appearance than the rest. 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 267 

Tlie mother had a fairly mtelligent face, and the 
daughter was actually pretty and spoke French. 
Tliey had a cabin by night, and camped out by day 
with their less favored sisters, in their regard for 
their national customs and the religious principles 
which kept them apart from the people over the 
fence. We were told that this was the family of 
some official at Jerusalem. We should have been 
more than glad to have some intercourse with our 
neighbors, but barriers of language and still more 
insurmountable barriers of race and religion made 
this impossible. We could only look on, so far as 
propriet)^ and timidity allowed, and do such think- 
ing as was appropriate. There was sufficient still- 
ness save when the children cried in the notes and 
tones of the common humanity. We had a good 
opportunity for studying the looks and manners 
and customs of th^ people, and in this we were 
more than repaid for any inconvenience caused by 
their presence on the ship. 

We were less fortunate in another part of our 
freight. At Constantinople we received thirty-two 
oxen, who had been brought from Odessa in another 
steamer. They were afflicted with the cattle disease, 
and had suffered on their previous voyage, so that 
to all appearance they were dead wlien they were 
hoisted aboard our ship, by a rope fastened around the 
roots of their horns. It was a painful and disgraceful 
sight, but not an unfitting souvenir of the country 
and its government. Most of the poor creatures 
completed their dying in a day or two, and the rest 
were killed, and all were thrown into the sea. The 



268 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

process, often repeated, broke the monotony of the 
long days. 

At the Dardanelles we were visited by the usual 
fleet of boats. The scene was less imposing than in 
the days when Xerxes joined the continents with his 
bridge of boats, perhaps less exciting than when the 
bold swain swam from Abydos on his visits to Hero. 
Ours was a less romantic spectacle. If a confusion 
of voices makes a Babel, this site would have an- 
swered for the tower. Words rose perilously near 
to fights, without quite reaching them. There was 
a humble traffic in fish, fruit, bread, and pitchers, 
carried on by men and boys on the one part, and by 
our housekeeping passengers on the other part. 

On Saturday we entered the magnificent harbor 
of Smyrna, and came to a stop near the fine quay. 
The large city is mostly on the plain between Mount 
Pagus and the sea, with a portion of its houses 
stretching up the slope of the hill. The history of 
the place is interesting, but it need not be recited 
here. It was probably settled by Greeks, and it was 
one of the cities of the Ionian league. It has had 
its full measure of vicissitudes. It has been de- 
stroyed by war, thrown down by earthquakes, and 
ravaged by fire. But it has risen again and again, 
and is now a very large city. The books do not 
seem to know how many inhabitants it has, but we 
were told there are two hundred and twenty thou- 
sand. Its situation is quite sure to keep the place 
large and flourishing. The Christians have so large 
a preponderance of the population that the Turks 
call the place the Giaour-city, or Dog-town in our 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 269 

vernacular. Here was one of the seven churches 
named in the Revelation, and the message sent to it 
then announced the tribulation which was to come. 
In that letter are the words which have given so 
much of fortitude to suffering souls in many genera- 
tions : '' Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give 
thee the crown of life." Polycarp, the disciple of 
St. John, was bishop here, the man who answered 
the pro-consul who would have him curse the Christ 
whom he served, — ''Six and eighty years have I 
served Him, and He has done me nothing but good; 
and how could I curse Him, my Lord and Saviour I 
If you would know what I am, I tell you frankl}^, I 
am a Christian." He would not let them fasten him 
to the stake, but amid the fires calmly witnessed to 
his faith. 

I have spoken of tlie large number of Christians. 
It is not to be inferred that they are a vigorous 
religious force. There are, however, vigorous Chris- 
tians here, who are quite worthy of the place into 
which they have entered. Again it is the West cast- 
ing its life into the East, and holding up its light. 
There is a fine stone church, built by our American 
Board, where services are held every Sunday in 
Turkish and Greek. There is a flourishing girls' 
school connected with the church. Smyrna is fortu- 
nate in having the enterprise and devotion of George 
Constantine. He is a Greek, as his name suggests. 
He was born in Athens, but he graduated at 
Amherst in 1859 and at Andover in 1862. After 
preaching in his native city for eighteen years, he 
went to Smyrna in 1881. He was still to work for 



270 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

his own people. In a conspicuous place on the 
quay is the Smyrna Rest, a place where the stranger 
can rest, can find books and papers, and wholesome 
food, and, better than all these, a friend. Over this 
house Mr. Constantine presides, with his active ' 
assistants. There are times when the business is 
so good that the resources of the establishment are 
taxed to their utmost. I heard an amusing account 
of the arrival of an English man-of-war with troops 
from Egypt. The strangers made an inroad on this 
house and demanded eggs and other edibles with 
such extravagance that they seemed likely to create 
a famine in the land, certainly in the city by the 
sea. The minister and all became waiters and sent 
away their good-natured guests satisfied with their 
entertainment. On the walls of the pleasant " Rest " 
are Scripture verses, which are the more impressive 
because they are in Greek. Among them is the 
sentence already quoted, first written for Smyrna, — 
" Be thou faithful unto death." Near the " Rest " 
is a commodious chapel where Mr. Conatantine 
preaches and teaches. He has also the Greek ser- 
vice in the stone church. No mention of this man 
would be complete which did not pay its tribute of 
respect to the noble American woman who bears his 
name and shares his abundant labors. 

Smyrna in some ways resembles Constantinople, 
though on a small scale. The streets are narrow 
and dirty, though less so than in the larger capital. 
There are bazaars on the same general plan as those 
which have been described. They are, of course, 
much less rich and interesting, but the prices are 



FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 271 

more stable. Not much is taken off from the sum 
first named. Trade is, therefore, far less exciting. 
The narrow streets were encumbered with strings of 
camels tied one to another; often the driver, or 
master, preceded the line upon a donkey. This last 
useful animal presented himself for our patronage, 
or, more accurately, his owner presented him. The 
donkey is a serviceable though tantalizing beast. 
He seems always to have a grudge against some- 
bodv. Discontent lies in the curve of his humble 
back and clings to his bristliug mane. He seems 
bent on a persistent revenge. His favorite device is 
to grind his rider up against a wall of stone or 
plaster, as if he would rub him into it. I under- 
stand now the verse in Numbers which tells us that 
the " ass thrust himself unto the wall, and cruslied 
Balaam's foot against the wall." I know how 
Balaam felt when -'^ he smote him." 

For occasional variety the donkey is pleased if he 
can find a shutter of the lower story of a house 
hano'iijcr out over the street. He will insist on 
going under it that he may strike his rider's head 
against the blind. I once had a donkej^ try the 
same experiment under the low branch of a tree. I 
saw my approaching fate, but no persuasion or force 
could change his purpose. Under the limb he went, 
and the helmet I chanced to be wearing took the 
blow he meant for my head. The donkej^ is larger 
in the East than with us, and his saddle is needlessly 
high. The rider is perched on an insecure place. I 
have known the saddle to slip because the girth was 
not tight, and the helpless rider, with nothing to 



272 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

which he could cling for support, could only roll 
ignominiously to the ground. It was not very far, 
but it is humiliating to fall from a donkey. 

Our one ride in Smyrna was to the summit of 
Mount Pagus, where are the remains of a Macedo- 
nian and Crusaders' castle. Little is left except the 
walls. The ruins were more interesting than they 
would have been a few weeks later, when we had 
learned to think of the crusades as of modern times. 
The view from the hill was remarkably fine. We 
looked down on the new city and on the plain 
where the old city was, — for here, as at Athens, the 
new is not in the place of the old. We saw the bay 
and its winding shore, and the ships in the harbor 
of this important seaport. We looked on the old 
aqueduct, and the railroad to Ephesus. Then we 
came down, passing in our descent the tomb of Poly- 
carp. From his lofty grave, if tradition can be 
relied on, he still watches the city which he loved 
and for which he lived. 

Our stay was too brief. In the middle of the 
afternoon we were moving out from among the 
ships of the harbor. It was Saturday. As the week 
ends, let me pause long enough to mention a few of 
those who were sailing with us. One was Mr. 
Karey, or El Karey, an Arab, and a Christian mis- 
sionary at Nablus. He had been in England and 
was returning with his wife and her sister to his 
home. Another was Mr. Greenlee, a young man 
who had devoted his life to the missionary service, 
and was on his way to Zahleh, where he was to 
begin his work. He was a man of fine spirit and 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 273 

manly bearing; one sure to have the success that 
crowns intelligent endeavor. Of three others I must 
speak, because we were companions in the jour- 
ney to Jerusalem. There is no reason why I should 
not give their names, except that they might not 
like the public mention. I will call one Mr. Brown- 
ing. He was an Episcopal clergyman from our 
West. He was always dignified, courteous, well 
informed, and most appreciative of all we saw. Mr. 
Logan was a Congregational clergyman, a bold 
rider, a strong swimmer, a good singer ; making the 
best of everything and helping others to do the 
same. Mr. Keil was a German who had made his 
home in America; a decorative artist; a man of 
good taste and a generous temper; a genial com- 
rade, who did more to make us merry than any one 
besides. These three men had drifted together. A 
common purpose to see Jerusalem was keeping them 
in company. They had not proposed to ride 
through the country. But they found that this was 
our plan, and that they could join us, so they cast in 
their lot with us and we were thenceforth one party. 
Add Mr. Mill, Mr. Garry, and the boy, and you have 
the whole of as. But we were not formally organ- 
ized till we reached Beirut. 

Sunday, October 21. In the night we stopped at 
Scio, or Chios. This morning we passed Samos. 
There is rare beauty in these Grecian islands and 
rare interest in their story. But it was of far more 
worth to us to pass near to Patmos. We had the 
island in sight for a long time, and were able to see 
it from many points. I had thought of it as rugged 



274 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

and desolate. More than once have I spoken of it 
as a rock in the ^gean. We saw a long, low island, 
quite green, but showing no trees. This was cer- 
tainly its appearance. But I have seen it described 
as " an irregular mass of barren rock twenty-eight 
miles in circumference." We could see the houses 
of a village, with one large building, an old monas- 
tery, which shelters some fifty monks. In the days 
of the Roman emperors this was a place of banish- 
ment, and thither St. John was sent by Domitian. 
It was there he received the Revelation wdiose record 
closes our New Testament. The cave is now pointed 
out in which the vision of things to come was given 
to him. It was wdth an absorbing interest that we 
looked upon this quiet island in the light of the 
Lord's Day. We looked into the sky which was 
over him, and out on the waters where rested his 
weary eyes, — the waters which parted him from all 
which he held dear. It was in the vision of the 
world to come that " there was no more sea." 
Weariness and loneliness would be forever in the 
past. It was good thus to enter a little way into 
his life and to think his thoughts after him. I was 
glad to read his words, " I John your brother, . . . 
was in the isle that is called Patmos ... I was in 
the spirit on the Lord's Day ... I heard behind 
me a great voice, saying. What thou seest write in a 
book, and send it . . . unto Smyrna." The hours 
Avhen we were near Patmos were among the best 
which are written in this book. It was a quiet Sab- 
bath at sea. We communed with our own thoughts, 
and one with another. We sang our hymns, in 



FR03f CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 275 

which the English ladies held a prominent part. I 
shall never hear ''Beulah land: sweet Beulah land," 
without recalling those hours among the Greek 
islands. It seemed fitting that we should have a 
religious service, as we had so many ministers. We 
consulted the captain, who readily gave us the use of 
the saloon. The steward added his consent. All 
seemed to be going on well, when the captain ap- 
peared and said that we could have the service, but 
must have no singing. The reader thinks that he 
did not like our style of singing. But that was not 
the trouble, for he said that we might sing on deck. 
We sent a committee to assure him that we were not 
the Salvation Army, but very quiet and well behaved 
people, and to ask the poor privilege of lifting up 
our voices in song. The captain was firm. He said 
he had already granted a large favor. We might 
pray all we pleased,^ and sing on deck ; but sing in 
the saloon we should not. Why ? Some persons 
might wish to converse ; praying would not disturb 
them, but singing would. We should oblige him by 
having no singing, as he had already done what he 
had no right to do in giving the room to us. There 
was no appeal. We had found the one point on 
which official authority would assert itself for the 
comfort of passengers. We went below,' read from 
the first chapter of Revelation, had our prayers and 
a brief address, and thus wound up the day. About 
nine in the evening we anchored off the island of 
Rhodes. It was too late to land, but we saw the 
lights of the city, and the place was pointed out on 
which the Colossus stood. Boats came off to the 



276 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 

steamer and there was the usual clamor. Then all 
was still and we sailed on into the night. 

We came to anchor before Cyprus, at Limasol, 
and again at Larnarka, where the European consuls 
and merchants reside. These are the chief commer- 
cial cities. We expected to go on shore. But the 
captain was in an unamiable state of mind and would 
not promise us even an hour. He could not say how 
long he should remain. He waited about five hours, 
but we had only the satisfaction of looking at the 
island which has held so good a place in history. 
The island is very long, and we could see the moun- 
tains towering in their long ranges back of one 
another. The houses appeared to lie along the 
shore, but really reached back for some distance. 
Two minarets were in sight and some trees. There 
was nothing to remind one of St. Paul, but it was 
natural to recall the incident described in the thir- 
teenth chapter of the Acts, and to think of the 
blinded sorcerer and the astonished and believing 
pro-consul. 

On Wednesday morning, October 24, Mt. Lebanon 
was in sight. But the light was dazzling and the 
mist was lying heavily on the hills, so that we could 
not see the snow or the cedars. We sailed into the 
majestic and beautiful harbor of Beirut, and could 
then see the high mountains and the snow which 
adorns their summit. Few places are so fine to look 
upon as the harbor of Beirut, with its background 
of mountains. The boats came off, and in one of 
them we saw a gentleman who was pointed out to us 
as Howard. The name we knew. We had grown 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 277 

familiar with it, as we had looked forward to a jour- 
ney through Syria. Alexander Howard is the grand 
dragoman of this country. He is an Arab, Avas 
educated in England, has visited America, and is 
in a large way a man of the world. He has hotels 
at Latrun and Jaffa, and all the equipments for 
camp life. We had fairly touched the East when 
we took his hand. We were soon in a boat and on 
our way to the shore. There was an older and 
smaller man than Howard in the boat. He was 
dark, with a shrewd but pleasant face, and bright 
eyes behind his spectacles. This was Ibrahim Mor- 
decai, who was to be our special dragoman. He was 
a Jew born in India, long a resident of Jerusalem, 
at one time an apothecary, and now one of How- 
ard's lieutenants. We landed on the rocks and 
were escorted to the Hotel d'Orient, close upon the 
sea. We were hardly established in our rooms before 
the American consul sent for us. We answered his 
summons and were told that a complaint had been 
made to him that a company of Americans had 
landed without passports. It was a critical hour 
for the Turkish Empire, or at least for some of its 
officials. The consul did not hesitate to assure us 
that the sole object of the complaint was to extort 
money from us. We easily satisfied him and were 
dismissed. The next day our passports were called 
for. They gave satisfaction, and as there was no 
hope that anything else would be given, no more 
obstacles were put in our way. 

Beirut has a long and eventful history. Like 
every place of consequence in this part of the world, 



278 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

it has passed through many and violent changes. 
The Phoenicians have the credit of building it. The 
Romans captured it. The Moslems took it from 
their hands and twice gave it over to the Crusaders. 
The Druses held it for a time, and w^ere succeeded 
by the Egyptians, who were driven out by the Eng- 
lish, who gave the city over to the Turks. It was 
here that St. George killed the dragon, and his 
name has been given to the bay which is the best 
place for anchorage on this coast. The city has, 
perhaps, eighty thousand people, about one-third of 
whom are Mohammedans. Christians, Druses, Jews 
make up the rest. After the massacre at Damascus 
many Christians found a new home at Beirut. The 
place has become the commercial centre of northern 
Syria. The Christians, especially, are industrious 
and enterprising. The climate is fine. The heat, 
which is seldom oppressive, is tempered by the sea 
breezes. Many of the Europeans pass the months 
of summer upon the mountains. The old town has 
not much which is attractive. The streets are nar- 
row and rough, and the houses are closely huddled 
together. But a little out of the old district the 
streets are wider, and in the suburbs fine modern 
buildings are found on sites of remarkable beauty. 
There is nothing of special interest in the bazaar, 
which has lost much of its oriental character. Noth- 
ing which we found among the shops solaced and 
refreshed us so much as the stands for lemonade. I 
recall one booth in an open square, with its inviting 
array of many-colored syrups. In the centre rose a 
long spike of iron and on this was a block of ice. 



FEOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 279 

When \ye called for lemonade, the man poured syrup 
into a glass and then with a knife scraped ice into 
it, and gave a delicious drink which was most 
refreshing. It does not seem much in the telling; 
but as recollection carries me to the warm days of 
Beirut and to the weary streets, the cool flavor of 
that eastern beverage comes back to me, a reviving 
memory of the Orient. 

The most encouraging and creditable things in 
Beirut are the Christian schools. This is the centre 
of the missionary work of our Presbyterian Church. 
The mission was established fifty years ago. On 
the hill at the south of the city is the college, with 
its preparatory schools and its schools of medicine 
and theology. The buildings are large and substan- 
tial. That which is devoted to theology is very 
imposing with its white walls and marble floors. 
No seminary in the world can be more beautiful for 
situation. From these seminaries men go out to 
help and save their land, carrying what they have 
learned to those who have sore need to receive it. 

In the town is the large mission church, and near 
it the Bible house with its printing-office and book- 
store. Very near is the large girls' school, the 
Beirut female seminary. We had a very pleasant 
visit at the school. The accomplished lady who is 
at its head was very kind to us, showing us all 
which we wished to see and answering our numer- 
ous questions. We saw the girls together and 
heard them sing '' Hold the Fort,*' in Syriac words. 
On the chapel wall was a characteristic picture, of 
the maid who came to the wife of Naaman the 



280 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Syrian with her report of the propliet who was in 
Samaria. The picture was well chosen. The girl 
and the girls' school are to enlighten Syria with the 
good news first heard in Israel. It has the deepest 
significance, the educating of girls in the East. It 
means a noble womanhood, the home and the home- 
life, the coming of the day when they that sit in 
darkness shall see the great light. 

I should enlarge this account of Christian work in 
Beirut by the British Syrian schools, aud the schools 
and orphanages of the French and Germans. The 
massing of Christian institutions at this point shows 
the importance of the place in its relation to the 
whole land on whose coast it stands, facing the West. 
One is impressed with the grandeur and stability of 
missionary work when he finds it thus established 
in permanence and strength. The whole endeavor 
long ago passed from the period of experiment and 
is now wisel}^ and stoutly bent upon enlargement 
until its work is accomplished. 

Our stay in Beirut could not be prolonged. In 
this brief sketch I have brought together two visits 
which we made. Our eyes were on the interior. 
But before we started on our long ride it was said 
to be expedient that we should try our horses. I 
am by no means sure that this was the design of an 
excursion which we made to Dog River, called by the 
Greeks Wolf River. There is a legend that once a 
dog cut in stone stood by the river and barked when 
an enemy approached. A portion of the statue is 
pointed out, where it has fallen into the sea. 

On Thursday morning the horses were brought in 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 281 

front of the hotel that we might make our personal 
selection. That was not difficult, though there were 
elements of uncertainty in the choosing. The mat- 
ter of saddles entered into the experiment, as some 
of the horses had the ordinary English saddle, and 
others that of the army pattern. To the horse 
which fell to my lot I gave the name of Prince, 
from his resemblance to a horse at home who bore 
that title. When w-e were mounted trouble began. 
The horses were restless and frisky, and careered 
wildly in the narrow street. The more we pulled 
and shouted, the more they dashed about. The con- 
fusion was increased by the comments of bystanders 
and by the counsel of the grooms who were in 
charge. They knew but little English, but they 
knew their horses and they saw our difficulty. 
Madly screaming ''Slack bridle! slack bridle!" 
they at last persuaded us to give the steeds their 
liberty, when they were as quiet as well behaved 
horses ought to be. We had no serious results, 
save that Mr. Browning pulled his horse to his hind 
legs and then gracefully or ungracefuUj^ slid into 
the street, to the amusement of the crowd. The 
poor man lost off his glasses, which were promptly 
appropriated by somebody to whom they did not 
belong. Another horse was provided for the un- 
lucky rider, who would not be persuaded to mount 
to his former place. He was a loser by the ex- 
change, as his second horse was much inferior to the 
first. The amount of protest which the good man 
lavished on the new beast before we reached Jerusa- 
lem cannot here be stated. At length we were 



282 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

ready, and with slackened bridles we rode slowly in 
a long line through the streets of Beirut into the 
open country. I shall not linger on the ride, which 
had nothing of marked interest about it, except that 
it was the beginning. We went oyer part of an old 
Roman road, and lunched at a khan. This we were 
to do many times afterwards. There was some rid- 
ing which then seemed rough. It was nothing in 
comparison with that which we were to find. There 
are in the face of the cliff at whose side we rode and 
walked mn»e old sculptures, of which three are 
Egyptian and six Assyrian. Not much is known 
of these curious works, which represent gods and 
kings. They stand in the desolation, a reminder of 
days which have gone. It is strange that so little 
remains of the times which were crowded with 
great events. 

We were all tired when w^e reached our hotel. 
No one seemed to think that we had gained much 
by our long ride to Nahr el-Kelb. But it gave us one 
day's trial of the life into which we were entering. 
Friday morning, October 26, we made our real 
start. It was rather an imposing affair. We had 
about twenty-one beasts in our caravan, horses and 
mules with a donkey or two. There were nine or 
ten men besides the tourists proper. We had five 
tents, with the appointments for a three weeks' ride. 
Howard rode with us the first day, to see that 
everything was properly arranged. The first stage 
of the journej^ was to end at Baalbec. We rode 
about sixteen miles, and then rested and lunched at 
a khan. Nine miles more finished the day. Our 



FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 283 

ride up the slopes of Lebanon was extremely fine. 
Tlie views were magnificent as we looked down into 
the valley and far out over the blue waters of the 
Mediterranean. We had a good vieAV of the moun- 
tains of Anti-Lebanon and the rich plams of Coele- 
syria, with Hermon in the distance. It was a 
delightful ride, and gave us much encouragement 
for our long pilgrimage. As we came down the 
hill above Mexy we saw our tents for the first time. 
It was a charming sight, especially after a day of 
so great pleasure. Our camp equipage had pre- 
ceded us, and the tents were awaiting us. Three 
of these were to be our houses, one was the dining 
tent, and another the kitchen. They made a 
pretty group. From the three in which we were 
to live floated the stars and stripes. The flag never 
looked better to us than when we saw it in a strange 
land, floating in theevening liglit under a clear sky. 
A camel-camp was near us, but everything was still. 
We took possession of our tents very quickly, 
enjoying the novelty and excitement. An excel- 
lent dinner was soon ready for us. We had a good 
talk with Howard, who told us many things of 
interest, and marked out the daily life we were to 
lead. Thus ended our first day's ride in Syria. 

This way of journeying, travelling on horseback 
and living in tents, has been reduced to a science, 
and Alexander Howard is a master in it. In this 
part of the world, as I have before said, it is neces- 
sary to travel in parties, and under the charge of 
some one who knows the country and the people, 
their language and customs, and is provided with all 



284 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the needful appliances. To travel in any other way 
would be difficult, and at times would be perilous. 
Ver}^ much depends on the character and disposition 
of those with whom one is thus thrown into close 
relations. But in a journey of this kind through 
Palestine, it is more than likely that the members 
of a party will be reasonably intelligent and con- 
siderate. It was certainly so with those who were 
set in our company. Our diversities increased the 
interest and advantage of our journey. We were 
all amiable, and each one contributed his portion to 
the common stock of comfort and happiness. Our 
arrangements were very much the same for our 
days of riding. We were called very early, even 
while it was dark, and w^ere no sooner out of our 
tents than they lay upon the ground, to be at once 
put on the backs of mules, with our luggage. Of 
luggage we had as little as would serve our purpose. 
Mr. Garry w^as the most encumbered, as he had a 
leather trunk. But this was a public convenience. 
If anything was to be carried which was in danger 
of being broken, there was room for it in the 
trunk. I had a distinct bargain, by which Mr. 
Garry should carry a bottle of ink which I had 
bought at Dr. Lorange's in Beirut, and in return 
should have the free use of the same in his corre- 
spondence. The breaking-up process in the dim 
morning light, the loading up, the unloading and 
resettling at night, were the daily events in which 
we were all concerned. 

Soon after we were out-of-doors, breakfast was 
served, and as soon as possible after that we were 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 285 

on our horses. This gave us the cool hours of the 
morning for the greater part of our ride. About 
noon we stopped, sometimes at a khan and some- 
times in a field or by the roadside. In either case 
we had our own provisions. Joseph, the Arab 
steward, would spread a rug on the ground, set out 
our tin plates and mugs, much battered by long use, 
and then produce a cold chicken, which he dexter- 
ously pulled apart and distributed. To this he 
would make variable additions of such things as he 
had in stock. When lunch was over, Mordecai, who 
always had a special care for my comfort, would 
bring me his saddle-bags, whicli made a good seat. 
The rest of the party chose the softest places they 
could find. We had a very little conversation, a 
little reading, a little writing, and some sleeping. 
Thus the noon passed, wlien we resumed our horses, 
and rode two or three hours to our camp. The 
theory was that our tents should be in readiness 
when we reached the camping-ground. The fact 
was commonly the other way. Our mules did not 
always take the same road which we followed, as 
their purposes and wishes were more restricted. 
They reached the place for the encampment about 
the same time with ourselves. This was well 
enough when the weather was good. We enjoyed 
the liberating of the poor mules, — or pure mools, as 
Keil used to call them, and truly, for they were 
cruelly overloaded, — and the raising of the tents and 
the settling down for the night, perhaps for a longer 
time. But when it rained all was changed. We 
stood around in the wet, and watched the unload- 



286 ^OME THINGS ABROAD. 

ing of our tents and other furniture, which were 
wet in spite of their coverings, and saw the wet 
canvas rise into shape over the wet ground. It was 
dismal, and gave us unpleasant suggestions of colds 
and malaria. It was not often that we were afflicted 
and endangered in tWs way. But one who has not 
come in a wet state into wet tents on wet ground 
can tiardly realize the danger and discomfort. We 
liad changes of raiment, when we could get to them. 
But what was to be done with the discarded gar- 
ments, and how could they be dried ? There was 
no fire, except the feeble coals in the kitchen, and 
the cook naturally objected to have us around his 
camp-range, holding our soggy boots. Mordecai 
would strain a point, and surreptitiously get the 
boy and myself dried out in the course of the night, 
but the whole business was attended with embar- 
rassment. One who rides all day on horseback in 
a driving rain-storm is helpless. He can only sit 
still, and take the drenching as it comes. A rubber 
coat is some protection, but not enough. The 
rider should be completely encased in rubber, in a 
single garment which should leave nothing uncov- 
ered except his face. This he can provide for him- 
self. The baggage should have a similar covering; 
this others should be required to provide. There 
remains the wet ground, over which boards should 
be laid to make the flooring of the tents. The tents 
usually shed the water very well, but between the 
side wall and the upper canvas a storm of any spirit 
will get in. Whatever lack of energy may be 
detected in the East it does not ai)pertain to the 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 287 

storms. Nature has all her energy well in hand and 
makes it felt. 

But if there is discomfort for the dwellers in 
tents, those who are without even this protection 
are in a much worse condition. The habit of life 
may have hardened them to exposure, but it cannot 
be otherwise than distressing to spend both day and 
night out-of-doors, as our patient muleteers were 
accustomed to do. Whether they found any shelter 
in the night when it rained, I cannot tell. Possibly 
they covered themselves by some means. I believe 
they crawled into the dining-room and kitchen. 
Even then their lot might well make us content 
with our own. We had all the necessaries of life. 
Our tents were furnished with iron cots, and the 
beds were fairly comfortable. They were more than 
comfortable after a tiresome ride ; and the other 
arrangements made for us were quite sufficient for 
our few wants. 

When we were established in our tents the signal 
for dinner w^as sounded. Each man picked, up a 
camp-stool and found his way to the dining-room. 
The dinner was elaborate for the place. We had 
several courses, from soup to dessert, and all were 
w^ell prepared. Joseph and Mordecai officiated as 
waiters, and we dined in style. The dinner of the 
first day was beyond the common run of such 
repasts ; but our ordinary fare was very good. We 
had to live on the country to a large extent, and the 
products of the country had a sameness. Still, there 
was enough, and there was small reason to complain. 
It was a cardinal point in making our camp to be 



288 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

near water. This was easily managed by those who 
knew the country. The water was over-warm for 
our taste ; but our authorities were easily satisfied 
and the rest of us were fain to be content. But I 
have written enough, for the present, of the condi- 
tions of travel in Syria. As I look back upon the 
journey it does not seem a hard one. The discom- 
forts are forgotten in the thronging recollections of 
the things which were enjoyed. 

We were called at six o'clock on our first morning 
in camp, and were on our horses at seven. We had 
a general order of march. Mordecai led our line. 
He wore a faded olive suit. On his head was a cov- 
ering of white cloth, and over this a purple shawl, 
kept in place by black cords. His costume was ap- 
propriate, being a combination of the Orient and 
Occident, as he was in person and in office. Behind 
him came our string of horses who were arranged 
by chance, save as Browning very much preferred to 
be near the leader. The black horse which he had 
secured after his disaster in the street of Beirut was 
too small for his length of limb, and, what was more 
serious, was devoid of that activity which had charac- 
terized his predecessor and had caused his own pro- 
motion. In fact he was slow. His rider was kept in 
constant exercise by his effort to keep the steed in 
exercise. Even then his success was only partial. 
He thought he secured a more tolerable rate of 
progress by keeping near to Mordecai and having a 
diligent beast in his rear. The case was so good that 
no one disputed Browning's right to the second place. 

Keil's trouble was somewhat different in its na- 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 289 

ture. His horse was active enough, but the physical 
conformation of the animal was such that it was 
hard for the girth of the saddle to get a firm hold 
upon him. Consequently when we rode down hill 
our German friend was compelled to rest on the 
horse's neck, and when we went uphill only con- 
tinued vigilance could keep him from receding over 
the opposite extremity. Here was an occasion for 
frequent remonstrances and readjustments. But, 
from the nature of the case, the evil could never be 
remedied. Yet Keil was very patient. I hope that 
it was some compensation for his difficulties that 
they were amusing to the rest, despite all our sym- 
pathy. It was hard to keep back the smile and 
retort at his frequent cry, " Antoine ! Joseph ! My 
saddle's slipping off! " On the whole, we were well 
mounted. The horses were strong and were sure- 
footed. The latter quality was indispensable. After 
the first days we seldom saw a road. Indeed, roads 
are a rarity in Palestine. Our way often led where 
there was not even a path. Sometimes we rode in 
the dry bed of a brook; sometimes up and down 
hills and across fields. Frequently the way was 
very steep, needing the greatest care on the part 
of the sagacious horses. Yet they seldom slipped. 
Now and then we dismounted and let the horses 
find their own way over the rugged places, while 
we made our way from rock to rock as we could. 
Several times Mordecai found that he was out of 
his true course, where there were no landmarks, 
and Joseph's additional knowledge would be called 
into requisition. 



290 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Travelling on horseback seems attractive and ro- 
mantic. Under easy conditions it is most agreeable. 
But as we found it, it is a wearisome method of 
journeying. The ways were so rough that our 
horses could rarely do more than walk. They were 
so narrow that we commonly rode in single file. 
Where the country was interesting, in itself or its 
history, all was very well. But there were most 
tiresome days. To move slowly up and down the 
hills, day after day, and yet be reasonably patient, 
needed all our resources. One should be on good 
terms with himself if he attempts it. I tried all the 
devices which I could think of to wear away the 
hours. I played games with myself, repeated poetry, 
capped verses, called up scenes which were past and 
friends who were far away, anticipated the getting 
back to my work, and what would be done when 
home was reached, guessed what time it would be 
when we reached a point before us ; — did all I could 
think of to break the monotony. It was always so 
good to stop ; to stand on one's feet ; to exchange 
comments on the day. 

There were times and places when we rode side 
by side, and chatted as we went. I received some 
choice bits of personal history in this way. Or we 
could dash out over the plain, and refresh our horses 
and ourselves. It seems now as if there was nothing 
very hard in those days of riding. But I cannot for- 
get that some of the hours were very long and very 
lonely. I thought then that nothing would induce 
me to repeat the journey. I am less confident now. 

From Beirut to Damascus there is a fine diligence 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 291 

road. It was made in connection with the French 
expedition of 1860. It is seventy miles in length. 
There is no road like it in Syria. We enjoyed this 
for the first day and so long as our course would 
permit. Our second morning was less interesting 
than the first. Before noon Howard bade us adieu 
and went back to Beirut. Thenceforth Mordecai 
was in sole command of our troop. 

In the autumn Syria has a barren look. We saw 
few flowers in all our long ride. In many places the 
ground was so thickly covered with stones that it 
seemed well nigh impossible to find a place for seed. 
The stones serve a useful purpose in holding the 
soil in place in the heavy rains. Hermon was in 
sight as we rode on and the Anti-Lebanon moun- 
tains. We passed through Zahleh, w^here our friend 
Greenlee was to have his home. The town had an 
uninviting appearance. There is no beauty in the 
low, square, dull houses, with their flat roofs. Yet 
this is a place of considerable importance, having 
a population of some fifteen thousand, the most of 
whom are nominally Christians. The people are 
described as of a turbulent character. The treat- 
ment which they have received may account for 
this in a measure. 

We turned aside for a little while to visit the tomb 
of Noah. We found it in a stone building con- 
iiected with the ruins of a church. The tomb is 
apparently built of stone, and covered with plaster. 
It is very long. Its length is given as forty-four 
yards, but I think that this is an over-measurement. 
We remarked upon the length of the structure. 



292 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

The guardian assented to our view of the case, but 
said that Noah was a very tall man. The tomb was 
covered with cloths of different sorts ; a common 
custom in Mohammedan countries. I suppose that 
this is thought to be a benefit to the owner of the 
handkerchief or veil rather than to the occupant of 
the mausoleum. The keeper seemed to have small 
confidence in the efficacy of these adornments, or 
else small care for those who sought to appropriate 
it. For he readily consented to sell to Keil and 
myself a couple of the veils at a moderate price. I 
trust that no one became the poorer by this trans- 
action. 

We passed large herds of cattle as we journe5"ed, 
and sheep and goats who were kept together. In 
one place we saw two men and a boy running one 
shovel in the construction of a ditch. Two were in 
the trench, which was about two feet deep, and the 
other was on the ground above. One had the handle 
of the shovel and the others worked ropes which 
drove it into the ground, and then hoisted it to the 
surface. The boy seemed amused at our amusement 
as we watched this laborious process. 

We had our usual nooning. I remember nothing 
of it, except Keil's appearance. He wore a tall, 
black hat, which was quite unsuited to a tour like 
ours. For greater comfort he had put Noah's hand- 
kerchief over his head, and his hat over that. 
When he removed his double covering, it was 
found that his forehead was gaudily frescoed with 
the colors and shapes which adorned his mortuary 
veil. As he was a decorator by profession, there 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 293 

was an appropriateness in this display, upon which 
we did not fail to comment. 

In the afternoon we passed what is known as the 
Temple of Doris, or Tomb of Doris. It is octagonal, 
and constructed of pillars and other stones from 
Baalbec. An antique sarcophagus, standing on one 
end, made a small but convenient place for prayer. 
We rode into a quarry from which stone had been 
taken for the temples, and saw one immense stone 
which had not been wholly cut from the rock of 
which it was a part. We walked on the top of this 
block, which is seventy-one feet in length, fourteen 
feet in height, and thirteen in breadth. We got 
some idea of the labor of those builders of the olden 
time when we looked upon the stones which they 
piled, and wondered by what means they were able 
to set them in their places. 

Thus we came to Baalbec. We entered the pre- 
cincts of the temple by a long passage, which was so 
dark through much of the way that we could see 
nothing clearly, and could only let our horses take 
their own course through the gloom. We came into 
the great entrance court of the temple, and pitched 
our tents against the north wall. It was a superb 
place for our little camp, and we were in a state of 
rare delight as we looked on the massive walls and 
tall columns, and remembered where v/e were. It 
was Saturda}^ night after an eventful week. Where 
could its days have a better end? 

But what shall I v/rite of the place ? I could fill 
pages with descriptions and reflections. But the 
pictures which any one can see are more satisfactory 



294 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

than words, and reflections are not of much account 
unless one makes them for himself. No one can tell 
when the temples were built whose stupendous ruins 
are solitary and deserted. Baal is found in the old 
Hebrew scriptures ; but whether Baalbec is referred 
to in those ancient writings is uncertain. In the 
early Christian times we find the place under the 
Greek name of Heliopolis. The City of the Sun 
was a Roman colony, and as early as the second 
century, it would seem, two temples were built by 
imperial authority. It may be that one of the 
two found on the coins of Septimius Severus was 
never finished. When Christianit)^ became the 
religion of the empire, one of the temples was 
changed into a church, and the other was destroyed. 
Moslems and Crusaders appear in its later history. 
Earthquake has completed the work of war, until 
only fragments of grandeur remain to excite the 
wonder and admiration of travellers. 

The temples were higher than the town, on a plat- 
form which was reached by broad steps. The tall 
columns which adorned the portico have gone. 
Beyond was a hexagonal court wliich opened into 
the Greek court, a quadrangle four hundred and 
forty feet long and three hundred and seventy wide. 
The bare walls, despoiled of their beauties, enclose a 
desolation. It was in this court that our five tents 
were set up, while a little be3^ond them our horses 
and mules rested in the sacred domain. Beyond 
this court was another which was yet higher, in 
which was the Temple of Baal. Six massive col- 
umns of the peristyle remain in their place, but 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS, 295 

of the Temple walls, if tliey were ever erected, 
no trace can be found. The columns were of a 
yellowish limestone. The base was in one block, 
and the shaft in three, which were held together 
by clamps of iron. The iron has proved more 
attractive than the architecture to the Turks and 
Arabs, who have broken the stones that they might 
appropriate it. These assaults and the more steady 
wearing of time seem likely to throw down these 
tall sentinels, and leave the ruins unguarded. 

In the w^est wall are the immense stones which 
are often referred to. In some respects they are 
as wonderful as anything which is seen. They are 
the largest stones, so it is said, which were ever 
taken from a quarry, or ever set in a wall. I must 
give figures, which will have some meaning if the 
distances which they denote is paced on the ground 
or measured off on the side of a church. The three 
famous stones are respectively sixty-four feet in 
length, sixty-three feet and two-thirds, and sixtj^- 
three feet. They are about thirteen feet high and 
thick, and are placed twenty feet above the ground. 
We may well wonder how they were ever taken 
from their place, brought to the height where the 
temple was to stand, raised to the place they were 
to fill. They were so nicely fitted one to another 
that the blade of a knife could not be inserted 
between them. There are nine other stones of 
about half the length of these. As we look upon 
them in amazement, we gain a crude idea of the 
skill and force which entered into the masonry in 
the times of the lost arts. Now they are curiosities 
and memorials. 



296 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Outside of the courts, parallel to the temple of 
Baal, is the Temple of the Sun, which the Romans 
consecrated to Jupiter. This is smaller than the 
other, but it is now the largest temple m Syria and 
the most beautiful, while it has additional interest as 
the one which is best preserved. It had a magnifi- 
cent entrance, of which very much remains. It was 
forty -two feet high, and the width is half the height. 
The ornamentation of the stones is most elaborate. 
Vines, grapes, acanthus leaves, figures of men and 
animals, adorn the gateway in the greatest profusion. 
The portal was nearly shattered by the earthquake 
of 1769, when the huge keystone dropped some three 
feet, where it hung in the centre of the lintel for 
over a hundred years. Then the English consul 
built under it a pier of stones on which it may rest 
for a long time. There are stairways within the 
stones which form the side of this gateway. One 
entrance is closed, but if you are willing to creep 
through a low opening on the other side you can 
climb to the top of the wall and get a broad view of 
the courts and temples, the expanse of ruins. The 
boy of the party naturally made the experiment. 
Many of the columns of this temple are standing, 
with portions of others, while one has fallen against 
the wall, where two portions of its shaft still lean. 

At the east of the Acropolis, in the miodern vil- 
lage, enclosed by garden walls, and standing among 
mulberry and poplar trees, is a small semi-circular 
temple, whose exterior is very attractive with its 
columns and carvings. The building was once a 
Greek chapel, but it is now becoming ruins. We 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 297 

get so accustomed to that word, ruins ! Yet how 
jiiuch it means of thought and toil which have left 
]io mark; of human passions and desires which have 
burned to ashes ; of centuries which have gone over 
to the rapacious past! The golden capitals have 
fallen, and the proud pillars which they surmounted. 
Statues have fled from the niches which they graced. 
Altars have disappeared and oracles become dumb. 
Temples and men have passed into the realm from 
Avhich there is no return. ''Ruins," we say, and 
gaze at the lofty piles which are waiting for the 
word. I did not mean to moralize. But who could 
spend a quiet Sunday among the fallen splendors of 
Baalbec and not be set a-thinking? The walls would 
rise again. The priests would stand at the altars. 
The people would bring their offerings and their 
prayers. The old Psalm would sing its way into 
the silence and the long procession move through 
the imposing gates. What did it all mean ? Who 
shall say? Who can doubt that sincere hearts were 
here, with honest thanksgiving and fervent peti- 
tions? For the multitudes, the blind led by the 
blind, and not unwillingly, I have now no word. 
But surely there were some here who under strange 
names and with strange rites paid a true homage to 
the God whom they dimly saw, for whom their 
hearts longed, in whose hands they knew that their 
life was. Some went down these steps and back 
into the world with a clearer vision of unseen 
things, and with a firmer purpose to follow the 
inner light and to hearken to the inner voice. It 
is easy to believe this, waiting in the temple, keep- 



298 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

ing the Sabbath Day, sure that God is in this 

place. 

The priests have gone. I will not take their 
office. It was a restful, impressive day: a good 
pause between the new world we had left and the 
old world into which we were advancing. 

There are remains of the old town in heaps of 
stones, some of which retain signs of their former 
use and beauty, and from the ruins statues are some- 
times brought to light. There is a modern village 
at the east of the temples, partly upon the site of 
the town. There are two hundred and fifty houses, 
more or less, occupied chiefly by Greek Catholics. A 
school for Syrian girls marks the presence of Christian 
teachers, and is another bright spot in a dark land. 

The laugh and talk of our German companion 
roused us earlier than was necessarj^ on Monday 
morning. But we secured an early start and a long 
ride in the cool of the day. There was nothing of 
special consequence in the forenoon. The red fields 
looked finely in the sun, but the paths were narrow 
and rough. We had our lunch in a dreary place by 
the roadside, near the village of Surghaya. The 
village is among corn-fields and orchards. Rock 
tombs are to be seen on the hill. In a small stream 
near our halting-place women were washing clothes, 
in the Italian manner substantially, with much rub- 
bing and pounding. One woman was washing a 
reluctant black sheep. We wanted to inspect these 
processes, but were warned that it would not be 
safe. We ventured near the washing-place and saw 
all we could, and returned in safety. 



FBOM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 299 

The afternoon was more eventful. We had hardly 
started before the rain began to fall. It rained. It 
rained hard and long. The drops pelted us like 
hailstones as the wind hurled them in our faces. 
Our rubber coats proved an incomplete protection, 
and nothing remained but to take the drenching 
provided for us. After a long time the rain ceased, 
and we expected to get on better. We had begun 
to cherish this hope when Mordecai leaped from his 
horse, which was the signal for us all to do the same. 
We were to descend a hill which was too bad for 
riding. It was too bad for anything. If I should 
say we walked in mud, the expression would give no 
idea of the reality. We ploughed our way through 
deep, sticky, heavy, red mud. We stumbled, slipped, 
struggled down the muddy hill, leading our dripping 
horses, and wondering what and where the end 
would be. We went through, or this record would 
jiot have been written. At the same time the rain 
SLcmed to be throug^h. The scene had been briofht- 
ened by lightning and enlivened by thunder, but 
these were over. The sun came out and made fair 
proposals, but he could stay so little time that he 
did us little good. We did hope to be sun-dried, 
but the hills were too high and the light went down 
behind them. At the end of the ride we found a 
comfortable house, with good fires, hot drinks, dry 
clothes, and all which wet men needed ? Far from 
it. We stopped in a dreary open field. Not a tent 
was up. But at length the wet canvas covered 
spaces of wet ground. Rugs were spread over the 
damp earth, and such changes of raiment were made 



300 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

as were found practicable. The iron bedsteads were 
put up and the wet corners of our mattresses cov- 
ered as carefully as was possible. Our situation had 
little to alleviate its dreariness and discomfort. We 
seemed, also, to have a reasonable chance of malaria. 
The conditions were favorable. We had quinine, 
the standard specific, but it did not dispel our fear. 
Such a dinner as could be served was given to us, 
and we seasoned it with suitable grumbling against 
our preparations for rainy weather and wet ground. 
We knew that Arabs were not far away. Mordecai 
had the camp pistols fired, that the natives might 
know we were strongly fortified and keep away 
from us. So the day ended, and early sleep came 
with its forgetfulness. 

The morning was clear, but we were not in con- 
dition for an early start. We did very well, how- 
ever, in the uncertainties touching the issue of our 
adventure. We took quinine, and moved on. Our 
camp had been near the town of Zebedani, famous 
for its apples and grapes. The place is finely sit- 
uated among the mountains of Anti-Lebanon, nearly 
thirty-six hundred feet above the sea. It is in the 
midst of gardens and vineyards, and has a flourish- 
ing fruit trade with Beirut and other large cities. 
There are three thousand inhabitants, one-half of 
whom are Christians. The traveller can find toler- 
able entertainment in the town, as he can also at 
Baalbec. But it is more convenient to carry your 
own house and furnish your own table. 

On our ride we soon came to the river Barada, 
one of the " rivers of Damascus," and better known 



FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DA3IASCUS. 801 

as the Abana. The river has its rise high above 
Zebedani, and rushes swiftly down a deep gorge. 
We had to pass the tombs which are in the cliffs 
above the river. The stone doors are gone, and 
the sepulchres are untenanted. We could not even 
linger to visit the place where Abel was laid, if we 
may trust the Mohammedan tradition. But we had 
a long noon at El-Fijeh, the great spring which 
pours it waters into the Barada, and may almost be 
called the source of the river. The copious spring 
bursts from beneath the mountain, and rushes vio- 
lently over the rocks, soon to become a broad stream. 
Above the place at which the spring issues from the 
ground, there was a small temple, standing on a plat- 
form of rocks, and below are seen the walls of 
another edifice standing in a beautiful grove. This 
was, very likely, the shrine of the deity of streams 
and springs. The rivers are not impressive, but the 
place is charming in its solitude, with the living 
stream which still goes on, while men come and go, 
and, for the most part, leave it to its memories. 
Some of our company could not resist the tempta- 
tion to swim in the clear waters, while the rest were 
content with inferior ablutions. There are a few 
houses near the spring, and some of the natives, 
chiefly in the juvenile period, made their appearance. 
We had no intercourse with them, beyond an ex- 
change of staring. 

Our afternoon ride was unusually pleasant, as we 
rode down the bank of the Abana. As we watched 
the clear, sparkling water, and saw^ it break over the 
stones into count-less waterfalls, we were not sur- 



302 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

prised that Naaman the Syrian preferred it above all 
the rivers of Israel. When we had seen the Jordan, 
we were still less surprised at his hesitation to leave 
his own noble river that he might bathe in the tur- 
bid waters of a strange land. The river we judged 
to be some twenty or twenty-five feet wide through 
most of its course. The trees upon its banks added 
much to the beauty of the scene. The green was 
in so great variety that the appearance was like 
that of our own woods in autumn, even though the 
reds were wanting. But we saw red leaves the 
night before as we rode in the dry bed of a brook 
with bushes on both sides of us. Through all this 
beauty and life, we made our pilgrimage towards 
Damascus. We took a circuitous route that we 
might have the best view of the city before we 
entered it. Late in the afternoon we reached the 
hill of Kasiun, barren and sacred. We rode as 
far as we could upon its rough slope, and then, 
dismounting, clambered over the rocks to the sum- 
mit. Legend has dealt generously with the moun- 
tain, for it makes it one of the homes of Adam, and 
there it has Abraham receive the sublime doctrine 
of the one God. The red stones were stained with 
the blood of Abel who was laid in the cavern in the 
hill. From this height Mohammed, the young 
camel-driver from Mecca, looked down upon the 
ancient city, and, though allured by its beauty, 
turned away because ''there is but one paradise, 
and mine is fixed elsewhere." On the summit is a 
small, open building which is called the Dome of 
Victory, and also the Dome of the Carnel-drivers. 



FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO DAMASCUS. 303 

It is a wonderful sight upon which one looks down. 
The barren country through which he has passed gives 
place to the broad plain, with its forests and streams, 
and resting among them, silent and beautiful, is the 
great city of the East, lifting among the trees the 
domes and minarets of its hundred and one mosques. 
Nothing could be more fascinating. To believe that 
paradise was here requires but slight effort. Who- 
ever is here, let him linger and prolong his rapture. 
He will never see the quiet beauty again. Once in 
the city the charm will be broken. He may come 
again to the mount of vision, but the " tender 
grace " of his first vision will not come back. 

The path of the Barada is marked by the luxuri- 
ance of the grass and trees which it nourishes and 
beautifies. The river rejoices in the liberty of the 
valley, and, breaking into small streams, carries its 
life and beauty over all the wide plain, and finally 
disappears in the marshes and lakes of the desert. 

Upon the calm and wondrous scene we looked 
as long as we were permitted, then reluctantly 
made our way down the mountain, and entered 
the city. We were very quiet as we rode along the 
streets, and drew up our horses at the gate of the 
Hotel Dimitri. We were in Damascus. 



CHAPTER IX. 

IN DAMASCUS. 

We were in Damascus. The golden dream of 
years had come true. We were in the city of the 
eastern world, among the treasures and mysteries 
and traditions and legends of the Orient. All this 
we felt as we passed through Dimitri's narrow por- 
tal, and it was surpassed as we stood in the large 
court of this eastern dwelling. In the centre of the 
court was a garden, with orange and lemon trees, 
vines and shrubs, and a fountain casting up its cool 
waters. Around the court were rooms for many 
uses, and there the traveller might lie at his ease 
on a broad divan, like a man in a story, and dream 
of Araby the blest, while, if that were his fancy, he 
smoked his fragrant nargileh, or sipped the dark 
coffee in its tiny cups. The mysteries of the ram- 
bling house never lessened. We enjoyed our large 
rooms, and liked to wander in all open places, yet 
there was the consciousness all the time that we 
were on the border of our dwelling-place, and that 
the Arabian days and nights were beyond us. 
There were no splendors, and few luxuries. The ease 
of the East was everywhere apparent, a carelessness 
which was almost negligence, but which was sooth- 
ing to strangers from a far land. 

304 



IN DAMASCUS, 305 

The house was quite shut in from the city and 
the street. It would stand a considerable siege. 
The large gate was closed and stoutly fastened. 
Through it was cut a small, low door by which all 
who had a right went in and out. This is for secur- 
ity against a mob which at any time might renew 
the bloody work of 1860, when six thousand Chris- 
tians were slain in Damascus. It is thought that 
fourteen thousand perished in that outbreak of 
fanaticism, when the red hand souglit to crush out 
the life which it could not control. We saw in one 
of the streets a stone column which still bore the 
stains of that time of carnage. 

The little door was fastened by a curious wooden 
lock or bolt which it is impossible to describe. I 
brought away one similar to it. It is ingenious, and 
effective under ordinary conditions, though it would 
not be hard to break it. These locks are sometimes 
very large and heavy. 

It is common to say that Damascus is the oldest 
city in the world. If that is claiming too much, it 
is not too much to say that no other city has for so 
long a time maintained its greatness and importance. 
It is the centre of Syrian life, and the metropolis of 
the East. It is mentioned in the annals of Abram, 
whose steward was Eliezer of Damascus, but of the 
origin of the city nothing is certainly known. Its 
history is associated with that of the Jews, but it 
held much wider relations, which extended wher- 
ever civilization and commerce flourished. The 
West sought its market-places, and from its gates the 
caravans ventured into the farther East. I shall not 



306 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

attempt to trace its eventful story. It became, of 
course, a part of the empire, and Christianity was 
early establislied among its people. It had its 
bishop, and its ancient temple was changed into a 
church. The name and the place must always be 
conspicuous, if for nothing else, because it was near 
the city, and while he was hastening to enter it, that 
there came the change in the life of a man who 
beyond all other men has impressed his character 
and his faith upon the world. It was in Damascus 
that St. Paul ^'proclaimed Jesus, that he is the Son 
of God.'' 

It was in the seventh century that the Arabs half 
seized and half received the city which they had 
besieged. The Christians then had fifteen churches 
there. The city was made the capital of the vast 
Moslem empire, and though it has felt the curse of 
Moslem rule, and has lost much of its importance, 
still, with its fortunate situation and its high re- 
nown, it has in a good degree preserved its strength, 
while it offers to the traveller an unequalled oppor- 
tunity for seeing the people and ways and means of 
times which are past. To the Arab Damascus is 
like paradise. The conception of paradise which he 
gains as he reads the description which is written 
in the Koran takes its form from this city of his de- 
light, from the fair fields and ripe fruits and sparkling 
fountains of Esh-Sham and Dimishk. To the stran- 
ger Damascus does not readily suggest paradise. It 
might be so if he was content to remain on the hill 
where the young camel-driver paused, and to gaze 
on the enchanting beauty beneath him. But the 



IN DAMASCUS. 307 

illusion vanishes when he walks through the narrow, 
rough, unclean streets, jostled by Jew and Bedouin, 
imperilled hj horses, provoked by donkeys, annoyed 
by dogs, overshadowed by camels, with wild boys 
and untamed girls confusing the complexity. The 
cry for bakshish is surely mundane. We heard it 
frequently, and usuallj^ from the children, who 
seemed to have no need of the gift they asked, nor, 
it should be confessed, much desire for it. It may 
be added that they rarely received it. They had 
conformed to the custom which had been bequeathed 
to them, and with that their responsibility ended. 

We had, as usual, a local guide in the city, 
though Mordecai looked after our general interests. 
Damascus has been compared, as regards its shape, 
to a spoon. It has different quarters for different 
classes. Christians, Jews, peasants, though the Mos- 
lems naturally occupy most of the ground. The 
quarters are divided into small sections having 
wooden doors which are closed at night. The 
streets are dark at night, and the stranger needs a 
guide who is familiar with all the turnings and 
windings of the ways, and is furnished with a lan- 
tern of his own. The sensation is very peculiar as 
you grope your way through the gloom, following a 
man you never saw before, knowing that treacher- 
ous characters are on every side of you, haunted by 
strange stories of mysterious things which have been 
done in these streets, and with an undefined fear 
which increases the romantic interest of the walk. 
But we were rich in confidence, though the domain 
of knowledge was beyond the sea, in the office of 



308 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Jenkins, who intrusted us to Mill, who put us in the 
hands of Howard, who handed us over to Mordecai, 
who had us follow the Arab who knew Damascus. 

Let me write of some things which we saw. We 
were taken to an immense plane-tree, which is said 
to have grown from a stick planted by Ali, the 
friend of Mohammed. They told us that the tree 
is forty-eight feet in circumference. One of its 
branches has -ghastly associations, in that it is now 
and then made to serve as a gallows. 

We went into the bazaar, which is saying little 
more than that we walked among the shops and 
stores, wondered at the endless variety of wares, 
watched the manners of the dealers, listened to the 
jargon of voices, bought such things as we were able 
to pay for and carry away. Near Dimitri's is the 
horse-market, where one may hire a donkey, if he 
feels the need of discipline, and wliere on certain 
days horses are collected and sold. Many of them 
are uncomely, but some boast a purer blood. The 
Arabian horse of story and song, beautiful, swift, 
intelligent, the friend of his master and the play- 
mate of his owner's children, we never met. He 
must belong further in the East. The horses we 
saw were far enough from this description. The 
connection is not a happy one, but this is a good 
place to say that the entrancing beauties of the East, 
the fair Arabian women whose charms a jealous 
manhood conceals behind the veil, whose presence is 
redolent of witchery and love, into whose fathomless 
eyes one gazes only to be lost, we never saw. 
Veiled women were in abundance, the thin covering 



IN DAMASCUS. 809 

but imperfectly concealing the face beneath, while 
the eyes turned boldly in the slit between the upper 
and the nether veil, and were not ungenerous in 
their glances at the passing Frank. But the women 
of ballad and romance did not come in our way. 
True, we did not cross the threshold of the harem, 
and saw only the daughters of the people. Yet 
peasant women have their full share of beauty and 
grace, from the fjords of Norway to the lakes of 
Italy. 

We are lingering. The saddle-market is, very 
properly, near the horse-market, and stalls for the 
sale of grain are even nearer. Very brilliant are 
the horse equipments, with their gaudy tassels and 
cloths and spangled bridles. We watched the 
coppersmiths at work in their open shops, and a 
blind man working the rude bellows for the fire 
over which another was lining a kettle. In the 
Greek bazaar were all sorts of shawls, weapons, 
coins, gems, and curiosities. We went into the 
rooms of an old man who is called the '' father of 
antiquities." His wares so nearly covered the floors 
of several rooms that it was not easy to move among 
them. There was a general sense of disorder and 
dust. The prices were not fixed in their amount, 
and we succeeded in bringing away some attractive 
things in brass. We also found in the cloth and 
silk bazaars many goods of great beauty. The 
prices were said to be absurdly low, as trade was 
extremely poor. We had a long process of bargain- 
ing, and our only error was in not buying more. I 
think that feeling is common when one reaches 



310 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

home. There is no need of extending this list to 
the fanatical booksellers, the bakers and confec- 
tioners, the pipe-dealers and fruit-dealers. No 
bazaar is more interesting than that of the gold- 
smiths, who are in a large building, very old and 
dilapidated, which is little more than a roofed space, 
with passages through it and among the numerous 
stalls where the cunning workmen in precious 
metals ply their trade. Much of their work was 
beautiful, and they were very eager to dispose of it. 
They brought forth hidden treasures as they caught 
sight of us and followed us with their eager solicita- 
tions. 

The wholesale trade has its separate place, where 
the different trades are divided, and the business is 
on a large scale. It was instructive to examine the 
great collections of merchandise and to see the 
methods of traffic, the bringing in and the sending 
out of goods. In these walks through the city the 
people, their houses, dresses, manners, usages, are 
all seen together, and the complex impression is of 
great value. 

'' The street which is called Straight " still runs 
through the city, though it has lost much of its 
original grandeur. It was about a mile long, reach- 
ing from the east to the west gate, and was more 
than a hundred feet wide. It was divided into 
three avenues by Corinthian columns. The middle 
avenue was for foot passengers. Remains of the 
colonnades are now to be seen. The street is now 
essentially straight through the greater part of its 
length, but it is much narrower than it was. The 



IN DAMASCUS. 311 

buildings at its sides are very ordinary, and have 
the look of age without being very old. The street 
is the most interesting in the city because we know 
it by name from our childhood, and because it is 
connected with events which concern tlie common 
life. The house of Judas is pointed out, where 
Ananias found the praying Saul of Tarsus. The 
building is ancient, but not old enough for that, 
unless it is in some of its stones. It is now a tiny 
mosque, and by its side is the fountain from which 
the water was taken for Saul's baptism. One would 
like to believe this. We could not be far from the 
place where these things were done. We went into 
one of the buildings to see one of the old 'pillars and 
found ourselves in a small school. The teacher 
and the scholars were sitting with their books 
behind low benches, and did not seem disturbed 
by our curiosity. Not far away, on a side street in 
the Christian quarter, is the house of Ananias, or a 
house with that name. Now there is a small chapel 
there, which we wished to see. The key could not 
be found. We interested the neighbors, who gave 
us the benefit of all they knew and did not know. 
They were bent on furthering our desires, and 
finally succeeded in finding two ladders which they 
tied together and thrust through a window into a 
room below. The descent was difficult and not free 
from peril, but we w^ent down and found a rude 
room with an altar and a few benches. If this was 
the place where the man lived who laid his hands on 
the man of whom he had been in dread, calling him 
"Brother Saul," — but who shall say that it was not 



312 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the place of his dwelling ? I suppose that tradition 
is willing to be truthful when it can be. It points 
out the place where Saul was smitten by the great 
light and fell to the earth. This is the Latin tradi- 
tion. A low structure with an inscription marks the 
spot. In the Middle Ages a village six miles away 
was regarded as the place of the conversion. The 
house of Naaman the leper has disappeared, but its 
site is shown, and upon it stands a large building 
which is fittingly used as a hospital for lepers. We 
did not go into the house, but we saw, sitting on a 
donkey, a forlorn man who was said to be a victim 
of the frightful disease. Mr. Garry expressed his 
doubts regarding the man's malady, but I could not 
see that he had good reason for his suspicion. Is it 
not probable that those poor men, dying by slow 
degrees, think often of the prophet of Israel, and 
long to throw themselves into the Jordan, even 
with Abana and Pharpar before them? In the 
south wall of the city we saw the place down which 
St. Paul was lowered in a basket that he might 
escape from those who sought his life. The tomb of 
St. George is very near. This was not the saint 
whom we found at Beirut, but the man who helped 
St. Paul in his flight. There are many Christian 
graves in the burial-ground by the tomb, but the 
Moslems have dealt roughly with them. It gives 
additional interest to this neighborhood that Buckle, 
the English historian, was interred in this Christian 
cemetery in 1862. It will be remembered that he 
had spent the winter in Egypt and had crossed the 
desert to Syria, and was stricken down with fever, 



IN DAMASCUS. 313 

to die at Damascus. We passed a Moslem grave- 
yard, where men and women were in a tent. They 
were mourning for one recently taken from them. 
They may have been friends whose grief was pro- 
found. The signs of grief are often boisterous. 
But on some occasions mourners are hired and then 
the exhibition of sorrow must be excessive. It is 
common for the mourning family to spend two or 
three days beside the grave, reading tlie Koran and 
offering prayers. The numerous methods of ex- 
pressing sorrow of which we read in the Bible are 
still to be found in the land of the Book which in 
many ways gives so good a comment on the sacred 
narratives. 

A caravan had come in from Bagdad as we were 
riding one day, and we were glad to see this ancient 
method of travel and transportation. Rugs and 
tobacco are brought from Persia, and other mer- 
chandise is carried back. The camels were shaggy 
and unattractive, but they had done good service 
in their long march, and were as grave as if they felt 
their importance in the work of the world. Perhaps 
they do. The camel is a serious animal. He stur- 
dily maintains his dignity, and is ready to assert his 
rights. He will bear so much burden as he thinlvs 
suitable. If more is put on his back as he kneels, 
he quietly remonstrates. If his remonstrance is not 
heeded, he has a way of rolling off his load and 
compelling his driver to begin again and proceed 
with more discretion. I do not know that any other 
beast of burden thus asserts himself. I never saw 
anything to exceed the pack-mule of the East. Stub- 



814 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

born he may be by nature, but he is effectually sub- 
dued and made to carry a load which it would seem 
impossible for him to hold. For pathos and sorrow 
and despair, no sound can surpass the complaint of 
the eastern donkey when his heart is touched. He 
cries, murmurs, wails, as if in a hopeless miserj^, 
loudly combining all sounds which are dismal, 
hoarse, asthmatic, while all the time he has no 
burden or pain, and apparently no definite object 
in his objurgation. Something may be on his mind, 
yet he excites no compassion and finds no relief. 
Evidently he is discontented with his lot, and lacks 
the patience of the mule and the resistance of the 
camel. 

We attended a dramatic exhibition one evening, 
and had a fine sample of this kind of work and 
play as it is pursued by the Arabs. We went in 
procession under experienced guides, and carrying 
paper lanterns. There was an air of mystery about 
the whole business, but this was probably due to 
the strangeness of the expedition. By a long and 
circuitous walk through the dark we reached a large 
hall which we found well filled with men. Not a 
woman was to be seen. There was an orchestra 
composed of five men, four of whom had musical 
instruments, and all of whom had voices. They sat 
cross-legged on a high platform, and interspersed 
their melodies where they were deemed appropriate. 
That they were anything more than appropriate can 
hardly be claimed. Thej had a mournfulness which 
seemed out of keeping with the occasion, but this 
appears to be characteristic of the music of the 



IN DAMASCUS, 315 

country, and so could not be deemed out of place. 
I noticed that the low singing or humming with 
which our guides and muleteers relieved their long 
marches was always plaintive. At this exhibition 
the performers were all men, some of whom wore 
the dress of the women whom they personated. 
The chief piece was a love story with tragic ele- 
ments. For the most part, it was very dull, though 
there were striking incidents. There was much of 
the recitative, delivered in the most monotonous 
manner, with equally monotonous chanting. One 
performer followed another, almost as if it was an 
exercise in declamation. Then swords would be 
drawn, and waved w^ith loud vociferation, and there 
were startlino; effects with colored lio^hts. We were 
left to conjecture wdiat it was all about, and this we 
were unable to do; nor could we get assistance. 
Mordecai said that thej^ used the "deep Arabic," 
which he could not understand. I inferred that 
they used the classic forms rather than the dialect 
of the people. It is my conviction that Ibrahim's 
knowledge of Arabic did not extend far beyond 
the colloquial necessities of a dragoman. After the 
tragedy came a pantomine, which was cleverly done 
and readily understood. It was full of fun and w^as 
the more amusing for the rarity with, which any- 
thing of the kind was seen. To see the people on 
and off the stage, to examine their costumes and to 
observe their ways, was of constant interest. We 
sat in large arm-chairs. The audience were much at 
their ease. They used a large liberty, relieved the 
tedium with eating, drinking, smoking, and chat- 



316 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

ting, and everybody seemed amiable and contented. 
But for the novelty of the whole scene, the evening 
would have been dull for the stranger. As it was, 
while we should not care to repeat it, our visit to 
the Oriental drama was entertaining and useful. 

Damascus is a walled city. Romans, Arabians, 
Turks, at different periods have laid the stones 
which shut it in. Towers, round and square, have 
been erected for greater security, but these would 
not offer much resistance to an assault. They have 
grown weak and assaults have grown strong as the 
centuries have wrought upon them. The wall pre- 
sents a feeble appearance. There were many gates 
in the old days, and some ten or twelve are now 
0f)en. Of gates within the city mention has already 
been made. At the ends of the Straight street are 
gates in the wall. The east gate, Bab est Sherki, 
claims attention for its antiquity. The gateway was 
nearly a hundred feet long. It was divided into 
three ways, two of which were long since closed 
and made part of the wall. The small north gate 
is now open, and over it rises a tall, square minaret. 

Damascus has its citadel, a heavy square structure, 
of the thirteenth century, surrounded by a moat, 
which is concealed by a dense growth of reeds. 
The general look of the fortress was sombre and 
solid, but not warlike. We ventured through the 
gate and were ordered out. At another time we 
invaded the martial precincts again, and passed 
through the open, desolate square with impunity. 
I have not said much of the buildings of Damascus, 
for there are few of which much can be said. The 



IN DAMASCUS. 317 

architecture and arrangements of eastern houses are 
familiar, and those of Damascus follow the general 
rule. The outer walls are of a dull gray. The win- 
dows are small, if indeed there are windows. The 
door is narrow and opens into a hall, which again 
opens on the interior court, paved with marble, and 
enclosed by parti-colored walls. In the centre of 
this space a fountain throws up its clear waters from 
among the stones which stand about it. Around 
tlie court are the rooms of the house, with their 
beauties of adornment according to Oriental taste, 
and the conveniences and comforts which life 
demands and enjoys. Such things, there as every- 
where, must vary with the means and taste of 
the proprietor. I have an impression that the 
visitor misses the splendor and grace which he has 
been led to expect, the gorgeous beauty which be- 
longs with every conception of the far Orient. 
Visions dissolve as one threads the streets of an 
eastern city with the '' Arabian Nights " in his 
mind, or enters where time has drawn its hand 
over the pictures of luxury and repose. 

We were admitted to the house of the late 
Shammai, a rich Jew, or to one room which is very 
richly decorated. There is a small synagogue with 
a library connected with the house. We also visited 
the house of Josef Ambar, a rich Jew. The rooms 
are arranged about three courts. The walls are of 
w^hite marble and the floor is laid in mosaic. This 
is elegant, but cold and hard ; good for exhibition, 
but chilly for a home. But home means different 
things in different lands. 



318 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

By the latest figures I have there were in Damas- 
cus seventy-one large mosques with a large number 
of chapels and schools, in which study and devotion 
were united. Many of the schools have been closed. 
The fame of the schools and scholars of Damascus 
belongs in the past. The schools which have tlie 
patronage of the authorities are chiefly for theology. 
The Koran, of course, is studied and the sayings of 
the Prophet, with enough philosophy and grammar 
to help out the higher learniug. There are schools 
of a lower grade, and a military school, but educa- 
tion is not the strong point of the Moslem faith. 
Naturally, there is more life and hope in the Chris- 
tian schools. The Greek and French schools are 
doing a good work in promoting the idea of learning 
and elevating the standard. We were more inter- 
ested in the English schools which we visited. In 
one, the scholars welcomed us with the salaam, 
touching heart, head, and lips, aud greeting us with, 
"Good morning, ma'am." One class sung to us in 
Arabic of "the home over there." We found a 
very pretty chapel, which had just been renovated. 
The motto of these schools is well chosen, — Jeho- 
vah-Jireh. An English gentleman accosted us on 
the street, seeing that we were strangers, and told 
us that he was engaged in mission work in the city. 
He was doing it in an informal way, meeting the 
people as he could, hearing and answering their 
questions, and telling them the good word of God. 
We visited a school which is under his care. We 
found a few boys and one male teacher. One boy 
read a little simple English quite Avell. A poor rabbi 



7.V DAMASCUS. 319 

was doing his best to teach Hebrew to a young boy. 
He read the text and the boy read with him and 
after him as well as he could. It was done in a 
chanting tone, and I could not easily follow the 
reading, even with a book. The task, which seemed 
unpromising for the pupil, must have- been dismal 
for the teacher. Yet I dare say they were both 
used to the labor and accepted it as a part of life. 

It is encouraging to remember the Christian 
schools which are doing faithful work against a 
mass of darkness and superstition, looking for the 
better day which they are bringing nearer. 

Mosques are not interesting places. They are 
usually very bare, and so dreary that it seems 
scarcely necessary to make it difficult or impossible 
for the visitor to gain admittance. Few of them 
would be often invaded by those who are seeking 
the picturesque or the beautiful. There are some 
which have a history enhancing their attractions, as 
St. Sophia. The great mosque of Damascus stands 
in the place of a heathen temple. When Christi- 
anity was established in the empire, the building was 
changed into a church, and was called by the name 
of John the Baptist. When the Mohammedans 
came in, they shared for a time the use of the house 
with the Christians, whom they finally dispos- 
sessed. Then a magnificent mosque was erected, 
which retained a part of the old walls. Extrava- 
gant praise is poured upon the edifice which archi- 
tects, artists, and genius created. Precious stones 
gleamed among the marbles, and gold glittered in 
the ceiling, under which hung six hundred golden 



320 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

lamps. Fire came and war came, and much of the 
glory vanished never to return. The house can no 
longer be called magnificent. But it is impressive 
by its size and the remains of its better days. Its 
length is a hundred and forty-three yards, and it is 
divided into^ three aisles by rows of columns. In 
the transept is the shrine in which is preserved the 
head of the saint for whom the church was named. 
This marble shrine is quadrangular, adorned with 
columns, and decorated with extracts from the 
Koran, and above is a gilded dome surmounted by 
a golden crescent. There are three minarets. On 
the loftiest Jesus is to descend in the great day and 
sit in judgment over the nations. We ascended the 
western minaret, and were repaid with an extensive 
view of the city and the country around it. Far in 
the distance Hermon lifted up his head on high, and 
beyond lay the land towards which our hearts were 
reaching. When we had left the mosque, we looked 
into the marble chamber where Bibars, the soldier, 
usurper, and ruler, who fought valiantly against the 
Crusaders, whose name and deeds are in high re- 
nown among the followers of the Prophet, after his 
eventful life was laid for his last repose. We saw 
the fine mausoleum which bears the name of Sala- 
din, but we could not stand beside his tomb. We 
looked upon the graves of two of the Prophet's 
wives and of his daughter, Fatima, over Avhich 
stands a dome of clay. The names revive the 
heroic days — the days which are fullj^ of the past. 
The new already presses hard upon the old. The 
proud Moslem sees the star which is coming out of 



IN DAMASCUS, 321 

the West and feels that the crescent changes at its 
approach. New arts and mdustries are commg in, 
with new men before whom he must recede. It is 
the inevitable, and he does not bow to it with his 
wonted resignation. Against fate he cannot con- 
tend; but he can revenge himself upon those who 
bear the name he hates, who belong to the steadily 
advancing force of the new day. Surely it is com- 
ing. The Moslem Avho stands on the minaret is 
crying better than he knows. The hour of pra5^er 
draws on. We heard his cry from a grated window 
in "the street which is called Straight," hard by the 
house where Saul of Tarsus prayed. The voice will 
be heard, and here men will kneel beside the world's 
apostle. On the wall of the great mosque, over the 
central gate, is a sentence in Greek which has been 
strangely preserved where it waits for its fulfil- 
ment : " Thy kingdom, O Christ, is an everlasting 
kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all 
generations." - 



CHAPTER X, 



BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE, 



We left Damascus in the care of the Psalm which 
rules above the gate of the mosque ; for we were 
compelled to move on. The great city, with its 
teeming memories and traditions, with its hope and 
promise, we left behind and turned our faces to the 
south. A crowd of bystanders watched our depart- 
ure in the early morning. We rode by the Pharpar, 
which is narrower than the Abana, but whose swift 
waters are clearer than those of the Jordan. In 
itself our day's ride was not remarkable. There was 
one incident which was exciting and painful. We 
had not ridden far before Mr. Garry's horse, which 
was one of the best we had, showed by plain signs 
that he was not able to go on. Our men tried sev- 
eral methods to relieve his evident pain, that he 
might pursue his journey. They bled him. They 
burned him, I suppose on the same principle that we 
apply a blister to a man. They compelled him to 
run at the top of his speed. The result was that he 
pushed on till noon, when we reached our stopping- 
place, and then again fell to the ground. All the 
surgery of the camp was put in requisition but to 
no purpose. As the men were keeping up their 
vain efforts an old fellow came riding by, who cast 
a look at the horse, and, saying that he could cure 

322 



BAJSrlAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE, 323 

him, rode on. Mordecai shouted to him to come 
back, and promised him a napoleon if he would save 
our horse. He seemed confident that he could earn 
the money. He dismounted, and ordered a fire 
made. Then he tried the burning process once 
more, and the horse sprang to his feet, only to fall 
again. The doctor sent away for charcoal, and a 
small quantity was brought. He heated an iron, 
and thrust it into the leg of the horse just above his 
hoof, but no impression was made. He cut the ears 
of the dumb patient, but could not bring him back 
to life. He saw that the case was hopeless, and 
went his way more quietly than before. In a short 
time the poor horse was dead. His work was done. 
We left him where he had dropped. Every one felt 
the pathos of the event. Our sympathies were 
touched by this death in a strange land. It was a 
horse who died, but death is always a serious thing, 
and we were not ashamed of our pity for the crea- 
ture, who had been faithful to the last, and had died 
at his post. 

We rode on into the afternoon. From the top of 
a hill we saw our tents in a field, near a lone tree. 
Soon it began to rain, and we began to be wet, get- 
ting more and more wet till we reached the camp. 
We did not seem to be very badly off, though it was 
bad enough. We were near the Moslem village of 
Kefr-Hawar. The name is said to refer to the silver 
poplars which abound there. But Mordecai said 
that it means "the place of unbelievers." Both 
may be right. Whatever the word means, the sit- 
uation was far from cheery. A brook ran before 



SJ4 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

the camp with its unwholesome suggestiveiiess. 
We heard the half-human bark of the jackals, as 
they made their way home. The natives around us 
might prove troublesome neighbors. Mordecai had 
the camp pistol fired. In each tent a chain was run 
through the handles of bags and valises, and bells 
were affixed to the chain, which was fastened to the 
tent post. The theory was that if robbers came 
thej^ would attempt to reach under the tent and 
draw out the luggage, when the bells would sound 
the alarm. In addition to this precaution, three or 
four men were brought from the town to serve as a 
guard through the night. Then we settled down, 
for everything seemed secure. Soon the rain, it 
rained again, and in earnest. How it poured, and 
how it assaulted our frail tent ! It made its way 
into the tent, and the beds on the windward side 
were in a sad plight. I was aroused by the flood 
without and the river within. It was a hard case 
under our conditions. I found a rubber cloth, which 
I spread over my bed, and, dressing mj^self, lay on 
the edge of the cot, and waited for liappier times. 
The rain still rained. I could hear it, and occasion- 
ally a drop fell on my face. Slowly, how slowly ! 
the hours of that night wore away, while the boy 
slept serenely on the dry side of the house, perhaps 
dreaming of the fountains of Damascus. It was 
about half-past five when I heard the inspiriting 
voice of Mordecai, "Doctor, it's time to get up." 
''How's the weather?" "Bad." He was right. 
It was bad. When we mustered for breakfast there 
was hope of a change. But the air was raw and 



BlNtAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 325 

chilly, and we put on our winter coats. We forti- 
fied ourselves with quinine, and mounted our horses. 
Soon the rain, it rained again. Apparently it was 
the first shower after a protracted drought. We 
went up and up, down and down, over the rockiest 
hills. Hermon showed his white head when we 
started, and for a little time afterwards. Our way 
lay along the slope of the mountains. Soon nothing 
was to be seen. The mists and clouds gathered 
thickly about us, and it rained. The cold wind 
drove the heavy rain into our faces. For a few 
minutes the clouds would break, and we could see 
the sun glimmering through the mist. Then an- 
other cloud would come along the valley, silent but 
resistless, and the rain would fall as if we could be 
more wet than we were. There is said to be a limit 
to the capacity for absorption. A man on horseback 
is a long while reaching the limit. Our road 
changed. There were fewer rocks. There was 
more mud, — thick, heavy, sticky, beyond anything 
we had ever seen. It was pitiful to see the jaded 
horses sink into it, then pull out their weighted feet, 
and struofo'le on. There was an end to the mud, 
and we came upon rocks once more. We trusted 
that the worst was over, when Mordecai drew up 
his steed. He said that he did not know where he 
was, and could not see through the mist. Back we 
went into the mud, and forced our way on till 
another halt was called. Mordecai and Joseph Saab 
held a consultation, and we turned for another 
attempt. Another halt, and the wind and water 
were doing their worst. The glimpses of light 



326 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

made the returning gloom more intolerable. Mor- 
decai and Joseph held another council of war, and 
separated to see what could be found. Some of us 
followed one, and some the other. We kept behind 
Mordecai, as the authorized guide. Presently some 
one behind Joseph shouted, ''Come on, come on." 
We turned and followed the successful leader, and 
the rain, it rained. Tlie intervals of sunshine con- 
tinued, but they were brief and disheartening. We 
left our horses, and walked for a time to get some 
warmth into our chilled feet. At length we went 
down the mountain till we reached the little Druse 
village of Mejdel-esh-Shems, in '' the place of sun- 
shine." Mordecai waited till we all came up, and 
then made a concise address. He said, ''I don't 
think I can lead you to Banias. I know the way, 
but there are several paths, and in this fog I cannot 
tell which one is right. If you say so, I will do as 
well as I can, or, if you think it best, I will try to 
get you lodging here." There was but one answer — 
" Here ! " He went to the nearest house and soon 
returned, saying that he had engaged it for us. We 
made no delay in moving in. It was a neat stone 
house, of two rooms, with an entry between. Be- 
neath were apartments for horses, donkeys, camels, 
etc. The best room was given up to us. Our 
men had the other. The family occupied the hall 
between. When we entered, the woman of the 
house was sweeping the floor with a small broom. 
There was no window, but a wooden shutter covered 
an opening in the wall, and there was a side door 
which could be opened for light. Furniture there 



BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 327 

was none, if I except two wooden boxes, such as are 
carried on a donkey. There was a feeble fire in one 
corner of the room, and this Avas replenished for our 
benefit. When our luggage arrived, we were able 
to make a change of raiment, and there was fire 
enough to dry the garments which we removed. 
Our beds were laid on the hard floor. We had our 
table and dishes and food, with our usual attend- 
ants. Glad and grateful for the shelter into which 
we had been brought, we w^ere ready to seek our 
couches in good season. The fleas of the country 
received us with open arms, and did their best to 
entertain us. They carried it too far, as we remem- 
bered long afterwards. It was Saturdaj^ night w^hen 
we went to housekeeping. Sunday found us "pris- 
oners of hope." But we were very comfortable. 
Our large room showed signs of skill and taste. 
The floor was of hard earth. The ceiling was of 
small trees or poles, on which brush had been laid, 
on which earth had been put, making the common 
Iiard, flat roof. Some of the space in the partitions 
was used as a granary, and from a hole in the wall 
the gi'ain could be drawn. There had been a little 
attempt at decoration, and the plaster festooning 
Iiad a pleasing eftect. The weather was far from 
clear and settled, and we speculated much on the 
chances of our getting away. Logan sang two verses 

of 

*^ Are your windows open towards Jerusalem, 
Though as captives here a little while we stay." 

The words seemed appropriate, and the song was 
enlivening in a moderate degree. We were to have 



328 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

had this Sunday at Banias, but we consented cheer- 
fully to this shutting in. The morning passed 
quietly, with reading and thinking. It was a 
wholesome pause. In the afternoon the weather 
was much more promising, and we walked up into 
the village. It was a rough and weary walk, over a 
steep muddy path, strewn with pieces of rock, 
which were of help to us and served to keep the 
earth from sliding away. We heard a tiny bell and 
found our way to a small stone building of two 
rooms, one of which was a Protestant chapel, while 
the other was the residence of the young minister. 
We went into the chapel and were received with 
real courtesy. Seats were brought for us, though 
the congregation had dispensed with such comforts. 
Only a few persons were present. A small line of 
women stood and sat against the w^all, and a little 
group of men held the floor in front of the desk. 
Civilization had so far penetrated into this region 
that persons dropped into the service from time to 
time after it began, in the American fashion. One 
man came who was plainly of superior distinction. 
We fancied that he was the head man of the village, 
or at least of the church. His dignity was made 
evident by his better dress and by the boots which 
he kept on his feet while the other men left theirs at 
the door. It was made apparent further by his sitting 
on a stool and on a cushion which a young woman 
brought for him. The preacher was a young man 
from the seminary on Mt. Lebanon. The service was 
in Arabic. There was singing, then prayer, and the 
reading of the Scriptures by the minister and people. 



B ARIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE, 329 

After that was a catechetical exercise, in which the 
minister asked questions and the people answered. 
The head man took part with the others, and all 
seemed interested in the exercise. We regretted that 
we could not understand the inquiries and replies. 
More singing followed^ which was conducted chiefly 
by the minister and one girl with a shrill voice, and 
the service closed with a prayer and blessing. Then 
the minister gave us a friendly greeting, and the 
men and women clustered about us, the sheik or 
deacon with the rest, and shook our hands with 
great cordiality. Some extended both their hands 
to seize and hold ours. An American congregation 
would not have given strangers a more honest or 
generous reception. We had no common language 
but that of smiles and sympathy and hand-shaking, 
but each one knew what every one meant, and we 
had a good time together. There was a small box 
for offerings. We comprehended its language and 
intent, and were more than glad to make a contribu- 
tion for some good work. There were about thirty 
persons present beside ourselves, including the dig- 
nitary and two babes in arms. The men were not 
attractive in appearance. On the road they might 
have passed for bandits, with their dark faces, 
heavy brows, and unkempt locks. But their faces 
were bright as they joined in the simple exercises of 
the church, and illumined at times as they felt the 
glow of spiritual thought. The truth which had 
been brought to them had transformed their charac- 
ter and bearing. We passed a few moments in the 
preacher's room, which was simply furnished for a 



330 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

good man's dwelling, and, wishing him well, found 
our way down to our residence. This visit was the 
sunshine of our Sunday in Mejdel-esh-Shems. 

On Monday we resumed our journey. The head 
of the house which we had hired and occupied was 
absent at the time that we took possession. On 
Sunday afternoon a tall man stalked into our apart- 
ment and gazed about him with an air of mingled 
curiosity and authority. We made him comprehend 
that we regarded him as an intruder, but our state- 
ments to that effect probably lost some of their force 
in being transmitted through a language which he 
did not understand. But he withdrew without 
remonstrance, while we were somewhat shocked 
when we learned that it was the proprietor of the 
dwelling whom we were ordering out. The family, 
for the most part, kept to themselves, though the 
children visited us and stared in wonder at our 
watches and other appointments. Mordecai had 
more trouble with our landlord and his household, 
who wanted, as it was explained to us by our drago- 
man, that we should '' make them rich." The alter- 
cation was protracted and spirited ; but it ended at 
last, and we rode away. In two hours we came to 
Banias, where we were to have had the Sabbath. 
We saw nothing to make us regret that we had 
tarried at Mejdel. 

Yet this was the Paneas of the Greeks, and here 
was a sanctuary of Pan, the divinity of flocks and 
shepherds. Long before, it had been called Balinas, 
after Baal, who was worshipped here. Indeed, the 
place has had many different names. Here is one 



bAnIAS and TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 331 

of the chief sources of the Jordan, which flows from 
a cavern over which Herod the Great built a temple 
in honor of Augustus, who had appointed him ruler 
of the district. Philip made the city larger, and 
gave it the name of Csesarea, to which his own name 
was afterward appended that the place might be dis- 
tinguished from another Csesarea. King Agrippa 
tried to have it called Neronius, bat the ill-omened 
title passed awaj^ It was a famous place. When 
Jerusalem was captured, Titus here celebrated the 
conquest with gladiatorial games, in which Jews Avere 
compelled to fight one with another and with wild 
beasts. The town was conquered again and again 
in the Crusades, and the remains of its strong forti- 
fications bear witness to its importance. All that is 
of the past. The place is wretched enough now. 
The situation is very fine and could not easily be 
impaired. Nearly everything else is gone. There 
are some fifty houses, most of them within the wall 
of an old fortress. We saw something of the better 
days. The ruined castle looked down upon us from 
its height. We did not go up to it. I do not know 
when this hill was first fortified, but the greater 
part of the castle belongs in the Middle Ages. In 
this land structures of that period are of small 
account. Even older ones are little regarded. 
Mordecai rode by ruins which would be the for- 
tune of Europe, and, when we asked what they were, 
answered carelessly, " They're only Roman." An- 
tiquity is a relative term, and varies with the bound- 
aries of nations. 

We left our horses and walked a short distance to 



832 SOME THINGS ABBOAB. 

see the cavern from which the river emerges. The 
cave has been much diminished as the limestone cliff 
has become worn and broken. The fallen rocks lie at 
the mouth of the cavern, and the full stream of clear 
water rushes over them. In the cliff are votive 
niches, and over one is the inscription, " Priest of 
Pan." 

There is another cave, in which Elijah rested, if 
the Moslems are to be believed, and to which he 
will return. On the hill above is a small mosque. 
The Moslems have been careful to put a religious 
structure near a sacred place, and in this have 
shown more discretion than in most other things. 
The village of Banias is dismal enough, as I have 
intimated. It seemed to be market-day when we 
were there, though I fancy that market-day is a 
movable feast, depending on having something to 
sell. We found a gathering of inhabitants in an 
open square. Some member of the bovine family 
had been slaughtered, and was now to be disposed 
of. The head and blood were on the ground. The 
dissevered members were hung up where they could 
be examined by those who were in need of fresh 
meat. The trade did not appear to be brisk, and 
evidently time was of no account. In the midst of 
so much which was forlorn, it needed an effort to 
recall the years which were gone. To have a place 
named in the Bible, and especially in the New Tes- 
tament, is to invest it with an importance which it 
retains when its strength and honor are taken away. 
The region around Caesarea Philippi has a prominent 
place in the life of our Lord. When he had made 



BANIaS and TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 333 

Judea unsafe for him, and the Jews sought to kill 
him, he sought the retirement of this part of Gali- 
lee. Here Peter made his grand confession : '-' Thou 
art the Christ." On one of the hills of Hermon 
overlooking the city the Lord was transfigured. 
These things bear the mind away from the desola- 
tion now resting on the city which w^as once re- 
nowned. 

Our riding away was not at all like the march of 
the Crusaders, with their flashing armor and fljang 
banners and martial music and martial steeds. We 
went quietly and in solitary reflection. I do not 
know how it happened, but I found myself left 
behind by all our company. In the windings of the 
path they were lost to sight among the trees and 
bushes. Nor did I know which path to take tliat I 
might catch up with them. I began to be alarmed. 
It was fearful to be left alone, and there. Would 
they miss me and come back ? That was not likely, 
for I very often rode at the end of the line, and no 
one would notice that I was not with the troop. 
What could I do if they did not come back? Where 
should I come out if I took the wrong way, as I 
could easily do ? I knew there was meat in the 
market, but I knew that I had no words in which to 
bargain for it ; nor was meat the sole requirement 
of a man on a horse. But sometl.ing had to be 
done. I was sure that Prince knew as much as I 
did, and possibly he knew more. His instincts were 
more trustworthy than my reason; so I slackened 
bridle once more, and let him choose his path. The 
confidence was well placed. Before long he brought 



334 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

me where I could see the advance guard, and at his 
superior pace he readily joined the line. 

It is wortli noting, as we lose sight of the Castle 
of Csesarea, that in the crusading times this was the 
seat of " the old man of the mountains," the sheikh 
of the assassins, the clan of fanatics who were held 
togetlier by a medley of beliefs, and who with their 
atrocities made themselves a terror in the land. 
Great princes paid tribute to the chief, that they 
might be secure against the marauding of the band. 
He used to stimulate his followers to their cruel 
work by giving them hashish^ from which they w^ere 
called hashishmen^ which w^as corrupted into our 
word — assassin. That is one account of the origin 
of the name ; but some say that they were named 
after their first chief, Hassan ; and others that the 
stealthy method of their work gave them their title. 

We came to Dan, w^hich was Laish till the Danites 
took it and called it after their ancestor. It was the 
northern landmark of Palestine, and is best known 
from its connection with its co-ordinate term, Beer- 
sheba. Dan is now represented b}^ a fine oak-tree, 
which stands, quite naturally, over a Moslem tomb. 
From the hill or mound on w^hich the tree stands 
issues the Little Jordan, one of the upper streams of 
the great river. Thus we entered Palestine. 

We passed two Bedouin villages. Their tents 
were long and low. Some were made of black 
goat's-hair, and others of what looked like our straw 
matting, except that it was coarser. In some only 
the lower part was made of this matting. There 
w^as nothing pleasant about these rude dwellings. 



BANIAS AND TIBJERIAS INCLUSIVE, 335 

t 

but tljey were picturesque, and were of interest as 
belonging to the country. We saw what Mordecai 
called Bedouin buffaloes, which we should have 
called oxen. Life must be dull to these tribes when 
thej^ are at home, and their nomadic habits do not 
carry them very widely. The men probably have 
their own excitement, especially when they are fur- 
ther away from civilization. Yet I think that their 
ordinary life must be unromantic and unprofitable. 

The villages which we found, whether they be- 
longed to the dwellers in houses or to the dwellers in 
tents, had a dreary, desolate look. Sometimes only 
broken walls and fallen stones showed where men 
had lived. But where there were still people, they 
seemed to be very poor, stupid, lazy, forlorn. The 
color of the houses — or the absence of color — in- 
creased the sense of dreariness. The women looked 
much like American Indians, and the men not much 
better. Those whom we saw at Mejdel-esh-Shems, 
where the Christian church is, were of a higlu r 
order. We saw signs of the native taste, in the 
black paint around the eyes of children and some- 
times of older girls. Some of the w^omen had their 
hands and the upper part of the breast tattooed, and 
we saw similar marks just over the feet. I think 
the color was not put in in all cases by the slow and 
painful process employed by Pacific savages and 
others, but that it was a superficial painting. The 
amount of ornaments of silver and other materials 
depended on the means of the wearer, though most 
persons seemed to be able to have a little of this 
kind of adornment. 



336 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

Riding in these narrow paths is not without diffi- 
culty. It is not agreeable to meet any one. The 
not infrequent sight of an approaching striiig of 
camels loaded with household furniture, wliich 
seems to cover the whole path, if not more, with 
wardrobes and bureaus grazing the cliff on one side 
and hanging over the abyss on the other, cannot be 
considered a pleasing episode. We always managed 
to get by, in spite of the stolid faces of the camels, 
who have the habitual look of creatures who are 
outraged and are sensible of the outrage yet do 
submit for reasons best known to themselves. This 
day we met a string of donkeys carrying dispropor- 
tionate loads of wood. The horse of the boy col- 
lided with one of the long-eared caravan; the stirrup 
caught in the wood, and, as the horse was the 
stronger, the donkey was suddenly wheeled around. 
I cannot say what might have happened, but the 
stirrup gave way, and the donkey was free to take 
up his march. We repaired our damages and passed 
on. I must remark again that an overloaded donkey 
is a queer sight. He seems concealed beneath his 
encumbrances. Often nothing can be seen but an 
immense moving mass, with four short legs under it, 
and a small head peering out in front. At times the 
load is less bulky, and a woman sits upon it in man- 
fashion. It is not always easy to tell a man from a 
woman, but we marked that on the road the women 
are more likely than the men to be barefooted. 
That is not a certain sign, however. 

We had our lunch under an old bridge at the 
River Hasbany, another of the streams of the Jor- 



BANIAS AND TIBEBIAS INCLUSIVE, 337 

dan. The way was very rough this day. Just as 
we were going into camp it began to rain, but this 
did us little harm. We made our camp about an 
hour from El-Mellaha, near a swamp and a brook. 
It was a poor place. But the moon and stars ap- 
peared, and looked in a friendly way down upon 
our little village of tents, and we ended the day in 
hope. 

I do not mention all we saw. There were distant 
views which were of rare interest, especially moun- 
tains of historic character, towards which we turned 
eager eyes but could not set our faces. Not a day, 
not an hour, was devoid of scenes, memories, and 
impressions which we could have had nowhere else. 
There is but one Holy Land. The next day's ride 
was one of the best. We had on one side the moun- 
tains of Naphtali, while the mountains beyond the 
Jordan could be seen in the distance, and Hermon 
was still visible behind us in his majesty. It was 
pleasant to be making our way southward. The 
country had the bare look of autumn, but there was 
seldom a place so rocky that we did not find a few 
delicate flowers. Our road took us quite near the 
waters of Merom, or Lake Huleh, which is supposed 
to be that which is known by the former name. 
Merom is once mentioned in the Scriptures as the 
place where the confederate kings of Northern 
Canaan came together, and where they were sub- 
dued by Josliua, who "houghed their horses, and 
burnt their chariots with fire." Other noted events 
took place in this neighborhood. Huleh is the later 
Arab name, and applies to the plain and marsh as 



338 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

well as to the lake. The region is a fine hunting- 
ground. Wild animals in great variety and profu- 
sion are found, while water-fowls haunt the lake. 
The wide plain is fertile and beautiful, but its 
insecurity repels inhabitants. It is the resort of 
robbers from beyond the river. The lake is triangu- 
lar in shape, being some four miles wide at the 
upper part and ending in a marsh which is impene- 
trable from its thick growth of cane. There are 
places, however, at which the shore of the lake can 
be reached. One who has travelled extensively ex- 
presses his opinion of the region in these enthu- 
siastic terms: ''The Huleh — lake, and marsh, and 
plain, and fruitful field — is unrivalled in beauty in 
this land, no matter when or from what point 
beheld, — from the heights of Hermon, the hills of 
Naphtali, the plain of Ion, or the groves of Banias, 
in midwinter or midsummer, in the evening or in the 
morning." It may be remembered that the Rob Roy 
canoe found its way to the waters of Merom. 

We lunched at the Khan Jubb Yusef, the inn of 
the pit of Joseph. The Khan is an extensive build- 
ing, or series of buildings, affording shelter to soldiers, 
farmers, travellers, — to any one who may need its 
hospitality and carry his own provisions. We spent 
our noon-time in examining the large edifice, which 
in appearance is almost a castle, having even a rude 
chapel. In a yard at the side of the Khan is a well 
thirty feet deep into which Joseph was cast by his 
jealous brothers. We have both Christian and 
Mohammedan traditions as vouchers for the iden- 
tity of the place. Unhappily, the pit at Dothan was 



BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 339 

two days distant from this field, and this well has an 
unfailing supply of water, while that into which tlie 
luckless youth was lowered had no water in it. We 
were sorry for these facts, as it would have given the 
place greatly enhanced value to our eyes if we could 
fairly have found the story confirmed by the truth 
lying at the bottom of the well. It seemed a pity 
that when we had this well and no other we should 
lose the story. All this was soon forgotten in the 
rare delight of our afternoon ride. The supreme 
moment in Palestine is when the first view of Jeru.- 
salem is gained. Next to that is the hour in which 
one first looks upon the Sea of Galilee. Long 
before we reached the sea, it was lying before us in 
its placid beauty. It could only be with deep feel- 
ing that Ave approached the lake which had beyond 
all others been sacred in our thoughts. The lake 
seemed almost a part of the Bible. It was there 
that words were spoken and works Avere done in 
which heaven and earth were together. It seemed 
almost as if on the shore of the sea we should meet 
the Christ himself. We had looked forward to this 
hour and talked of it. When it came, there was 
nothing to be said. We communed with our own 
hearts and were still. 

We reached the Sea at Khan Minyeh, which, like 
Khan Yusef, is on the old Damascus road. The 
Khan reckons its years from the time of Saladin, but 
is now in a dilapidated condition. It has been 
thought by some that this was the site of Caper- 
naum. Mordecai declared himself of that opinion. 
But the weight of argument, I think, favors those 



340 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

who put Capernaum a little further up the lake, at 
Tell-Hum, where there are the ruins of a place of 
importance. It is impossible to assign with cer- 
tainty the sites of some of the places on the shores 
of this lake. Bethsaida may have been a fishing 
village where Khan Minyeh is. The Bethsaida 
which bore the name of the emperor's daughter, 
Bethsaida Julias, may have been on the opposite 
side of the river, or may have been a little removed 
from the shore. It is to be regretted that we cannot 
be sure regarding the site of Bethsaida, inasmuch 
as it was the home of Philip, Andrew, and Peter. 
It is suggested that Khan Minyeh may have been a 
government station, with a custom-house and other 
offices, and that Matthew may have been found there 
when he was called to be a disciple. 

We watered our horses at the Fountain of Figs 
and rode on. We looked up to the Karn Hattin, 
the hills whose cone-like shape have given them this 
name, the Horns of Hattin. In the time of the 
Crusades the natives circulated a tradition that the 
Sermon on the Mount was delivered on this moun- 
tain. Indeed, the stone on which Jesus sat with the 
multitude around him has been pointed out. There 
is an older Greek story — that the feeding of the five 
thousand occurred in this mountain. This is simply 
the result of the common desire to assign places for 
important events. With the whole land open, places 
were readily selected, and the imagination of one 
generation became the belief of another. We saw 
Tabor far off. We rode through the village of 
Mejdel, — a forlorn collection of huts holding the 



A A 



BANIAS AND TIBEBIAS INCLUSIVE. 341 

ground where Magdala was, the birthplace of Mary 
Magdalene. Thus we came to Tiberias, where our 
tents were pitched in the yard of an old Crusader's 
castle. There, with the sea at our feet, and sacred 
memories and imaginations in our minds and hearts, 
we were very glad to settle down. It was a beauti- 
ful evening, and Mordecai engaged a boat for the 
next day, that we might have a ride on the lake and 
visit Tell-Hum. It was more than romantic to have 
the night come to us on the shore of the Sea of Gali- 
lee, whose waters, dashing on the beach, gave the 
last sound we heard as we closed our eyes. Our 
night was to be less quiet than we thought. We 
were awakened by the fierce wind, which shook our 
canvas houses till it seemed almost impossible for 
them to stand. We waited patiently to see what 
the end would be. But above all the raging of the 
storm could be heard the loud voice of Keil, " An- 
toine ! Antoine ! our tent is coming down!" Then 
we heard the pounding which showed that the faith- 
ful Arab was driving in the stakes for that tent and 
the others. The wind kept blowing, and soon Keil's 
alarmed cry was heard again, "Antoine! Joseph! 
I think our tent is being blown down ! " More 
pounding followed, and we waited for the light. In 
the morning our tents were still there. The sea had 
felt the wind, and the high waves and white caps 
witnessed to its severity. I have seldom seen a 
heavier sea than that which dashed upon the shore 
and broke against the wall, and threw the white 
spray over the towers. It was hard to believe that 
this was the quiet lake of the day before. Our 



342 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

excursion was given up, for a fisher's boat could 
hardly live in such a sea, and no boatman would 
venture out. Whatever we lost in this way was 
made up to us by the storm itself. We could realize 
how suddenly these strong winds arise, how hard it 
must be to row against them, how easily a boat 
would be filled and sunk. The thrice-told narrative 
of a company of men who launched forth upon these 
waters ; of one who laid his head upon the boat- 
man's cushion and in the quietness fell asleep ; of 
the great storm of wind breaking upon them, and 
beating into the boat till it was full ; of the cry of 
the frightened men as they woke Him who slept, — 
" Lord, save us ; we perish ! " of his rising and 
rebuking the winds and the sea so that there was a 
great calm, — all this was real and near as we thought 
upon the serene evening and the night of tempest 
and the troubled sea. This is one instance of the 
way in which the land of the Bible illustrates the 
book. 

Tiberias is an imposing name. Its situation is 
very fine, with the sea in front and the hills behind 
it. It stands upon or near the site of a city wliicli 
has perished. Columns of granite which are found 
indicate that the old city was a place of consequence. 
The new town was built by Herod Antipas, and in 
part upon the cemetery of its predecessor. This 
made the place unsuitable for the residence of Jews, 
if they were at all strict, and made it necessary to 
bring in strangers and slaves, and men of many 
classes, to make a people for the city to which the 
name of the emperor was given. Herod erected a 



BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. §43 

palace and public buildings of magnificence, and 
adorned the city with gates and colonnades and 
statues, and built for the Jews a fine synagogue. 
The place soon acquired a large importance socially 
and politically, though as a commercial centre it 
may have been surpassed. The city was enclosed 
by walls, which were strengthened with round tow- 
ers, and was thus protected from an assault by land 
or sea. The place is mentioned in the New Testa- 
ment only by St. John, who calls the sea by the 
same name. It is supposed that our Lord never 
visited the place. 

At the north of the city stands an old castle, 
deserted and partially destroyed. But it is strong 
and extensive as it is now seen, and could easily be 
made a defence against any force that would be 
likely to assail it. We wandered about its gloomy 
apartments, and, as in other places, tried to bring 
back the life which had once filled it. It was more 
satisfactory to ascend to the top of the broken wall 
and look down on the lake below us. I do not 
know why it has ever been questioned whether this 
sea of many names — Chinnereth, Gennesaret, Gali- 
lee, Tiberias — is beautiful or not. To us it seemed 
fair be5^ond description. There is not much which 
is attractive on the western shore, and it is unsafe 
to intrude into the country beyond its eastern 
banks. Tell-Hum is ruins ; Capernaum and the 
Bethsaidas have been lost ; Magdala is a desolation, 
and Tiberias has lost its glory. But the waters are 
unchanged. The ships and boats have disappeared, 
for the Arabs have no use for them and no fondness 



344 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

for tlie sea. The lake has a lonesome look, if you 
compare the present with the days when many sails 
flitted from shore to shore, and many nets were 
drawn through the deep places, which still are ten- 
anted with the fish, whom there are few to disturb. 
Yet the sea is there, and in itself is fair to look upon 
as it lies among the hills and mountains, which retain 
their places and their grandeur. 

The shape of the lake or sea resembles a pear. It 
is about twelve miles long, and in its widest part 
some six miles broad. It is nearly seven hundred 
feet lower than the Mediterranean. 

Tiberias has little to commend it. The streets 
are narrow and confused, and at least quite as 
dirty as in other Syrian towns. There are said to 
be three thousand people there, and more than half 
of them are Jews. Many of them have come from 
Poland, and the language of the people is therefore 
mixed. The Jewish men wear large felt hats, and 
keep the front lock of hair long and twist it into a 
curl. It gives them a queer appearance. The boys 
wear the hat, and arrive at the curl as early as they 
can. There are a few small shops, but the wares 
are not tempting. Girls came to the camp, wearing 
in the nose a small ornament which should have 
been of gold adorned with a precious stone. When 
we offered to buy one of these, a sale was quickly 
effected, and I presume we might have despoiled the 
maidens of Tiberias at a small expense. We bought 
some of these nose ornaments in the bazaars. 

We were also visited by an aged Jew. He was 
poor, as his dress indicated. Indeed, it was his pov- 



BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 345 

erty which brought him to us, for he came begging. 
He was communicative regarding himself and his 
people. He told us that he had a daughter in the 
United States, — at St. Louis, I think, — and that 
he had spent a few years with her. He could not 
be content there. The Hebrew spirit was too strong 
for voluntary exile, and he had found his way back 
to Tiberias, where he was to end his days. He was 
still looking for the Messiah, with the old hope appar- 
ently unbroken. He knew his scriptures and tradi- 
tions. He knew the rabbles and their tombs, and 
corrected some of the information which we had 
received. Beyond any one whom I ever met he was 
a Jew ; a living piece of the old Jewry, with the 
national sorrow and desire. Despite his poverty 
and his sorrow, there was something sublime in this 
venerable personage, waiting in Tiberias, by the 
Sea of Galilee, for the fulfilment of the promise of 
his God, and knowing not the day of his visita- 
tion. 

There are famous springs a little south of the 
town. The water is hot and sulphurous as it bursts 
from the ground, but it is believed to have medicinal 
virtues. There is a large bath-house, consisting for 
the most part of a huge circular tank, which is the 
common bathing-place. It is not an attractive place ; 
— it is very unattractive. The steam which fills the 
room conceals some of the accumulated dirt, but 
enough is visible and enough more suggested to 
make a stranger willing to bear the ills he has rather 
than to plunge into the unsavory ones which invite 
him. Yet multitudes of persons to the manner born 



346 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

bring their maladies to this pool and seek to have 
them boiled away. 

We visited a building near the baths which con- 
tains the tomb of a noted rabbi. The Portuguese and 
German Jews are in possession of this shrine, and 
visit it in numbers at Pentecost, when they make 
burnt offerings of clothes, jewelry, etc., placing them 
for this purpose on the top of pillars or pillar-like 
altars hollowed out at the top. The gold and silver 
are removed from the ashes and put to proper uses. 
Such is the tale which was told to us, and we saw 
the pillars. The Jews have a burial-ground west of 
the town, where many of their distinguished scholars 
have found a resting-place. 

There is a small monastery in Tiberias, — belonging 
to the Greeks, I believe, — and also a school. There 
are many sjaiagogues, of course, and one of them 
near the sea is very old. The interior of the town 
is in a dilapidated condition through time and 
earthquakes. Some of the houses have an arbor 
on the flat roof, which must be pleasanter than the 
spaces on the other side of the earthen floor in 
which the trees and vines are set. 

Tiberias has its long and varied history, which I 
shall not attempt to relate or condense. I have 
spoken of it chiefly as I saw it, roaming through its 
rough streets, watching its uncouth people, and with 
delight looking on the sea, wandering on its shore, 
and dipping the hand into its waters to bathe the 
head. This is to-day. But there are thronging 
recollections of the events which have made the 
Sea of Galilee illustrious. The record of them is 



BANIAS AND TIBERIAS INCLUSIVE. 347 

throughout the world. With this sea and the coun- 
try around it the life of our Lord was intimately 
associated. Capernaum was here, and Bethsaida ; 
and Nazareth was not far away. It was from the 
shores of this sea that He called his chief disciples, 
and through its waters he brought fishes to their 
nets. He trod these waves with the feet which for 
our advantage were nailed to the cross, and He 
stilled them with the voice which on one of these 
mountains taught the multitude, even as near by He 
fed the thousands with bread from these fields and 
fish from this sea. It was on this shore that He was 
seen by his disciples in the early morning, after the 
weary night, when He bade them '' cast the net on 
the right side of the ship." Into these waters, on 
which once he had tried to walk, Peter cast himself 
that he might go to Jesus ; and here, when Jesus had 
fed them with fish from the sea and fish from the 
coals. He questioned and commissioned the man who 
tlirice confessed his love. It all comes back as you 
look upon the sea, the unchanged sea. 

'* How pleasant to me thy deep blue wave, 

O sea of Galilee ! 
For the glorious One who came to save 

Hath often stood by thee.'' 



CHAPTER XL 

FEOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 

It was in the early morning that we left Tiberias. 
We saw the sun rise over the Sea of Galilee. Long 
before it appeared we watched the clouds as they 
caught the light and were changed into masses of 
purple and gold. We lingered, enraptured by the 
glory, and then turned up the hill, often looking 
back upon the lake which we were leaving, and up 
into the sky which was fading '' into the light of 
common day." At length sadly we looked for the 
last time upon the waters which had been so much 
to us, and moved on our upward way. 

Above us, standing out against the sky, above the 
hill, we saw the outline of a camel descending to- 
wards us. Presently we saw that a woman was rid- 
ing. She was dressed in white, and h^r appearance 
was very pleasing and picturesque. She might 
have been a king's daughter, in her morning ride, 
or a fair pilgrim communing with the rising sun. 
The light white folds, which revealed and concealed 
her, left us to imagine what we would of rank and 
beauty. Nor was the illusion dissolved till she 
came so near to us that we could see hanging be- 
neath her moving drapery a pair of large, uncovered, 
uncomely black feet. Even then, might she not 
have been of Ethiop's royal line? It is possible. 

348 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 349 

Hermon we saw once more, with its gleaming 
snow and all its rugged grandeur, and the Horns of 
Hattm rose up among the hills to remind us of the 
Beatitudes. Tabor's round summit was before us. 
High above us was Safed, famous for the honey 
which was gathered from the fertile fields around 
it ; more famous as the '' city set upon a hill.'' The 
description is accurate, and it may have been that 
our Lord pointed to Safed when he spoke of the city 
which cannot be hid, and told of men who ought 
not to be hid. Safed is still a city, with the remains 
of its castle and the recollections of Crusaders and 
Templars. It was one of the four holy cities, and 
had a rabbinical school and numerous synagogues. 
But its importance belongs in the past, though 
many Jews from many lands gather together there, 
sharing their superstitions and fanaticism. We 
looked into the Valley of Doves, but the birds 
which have furnished so much expressive imagery 
were not to be seen. David sang of ''the wings of 
a dove covered with silver, and her pinions with yel- 
low gold." The Song of Solomon praises the beauty 
of those who are loved with, '' Behold, thou art fair ; 
thine eyes are as doves' behind thy veil." " His 
eyes are like doves' beside the water-pools ; washed 
with milk, and fitly set." 

Then we reached Kefr-Kenna. It is a small, 
dreary-looking village, of some six hundred peo- 
ple, half Greek Christians and half Mohammedans. 
The only thing which gives the place any renown is 
the tradition that it is what is left of Cana of Gali- 
lee, the scene of our Lord's first miracle, and of the 



350 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

later one in which he healed the nobleman's son 
who was at Capernaum. It was there also that 
Nathaniel had his home. Kefr-Kenna needs some- 
thing to commend it; but investigation, which 
spares so little, has wellnigh broken down the old 
tradition which is the life of the place. A church 
was built on the site of the house in which was held 
the wedding feast which was made forever memora- 
ble. We went into the building, which is very 
plain and unattractive. In a large barren room we 
saw two stone jars or pots, which were set in plas- 
ter. The settings differed, but that was not strange. 
There is as much mystery about the ''six water-pots 
of stone " as could be expected. That they should 
survive somewhere would not be strange. When 
St. Willibald was at Kefr-Kenna, only one was to be 
seen. Centuries later, Lamartine appears to have 
seen the six. The Crusaders carried them to 
France, where one is now preserved. One is in 
St. Ursula's Church at Cologne, but that is much 
smaller than the two which are now seen in Galilee. 
The matter is not clear, therefore. Nor does the 
presence at Kefr-Kenna of the fountain from which 
the water was brought to fill the jars satisfy us 
either with regard to the genuineness of the two 
which are now exhibited, or the identity of the 
place with the Cana of the Gospel. It would be 
interesting to be sure of the place and of the water- 
jars. Yet this is not necessary. The truth and 
meaning of the narrative do not depend on such 
things. It is of greater profit to mark the gentle- 
ness and kindness which interposed in a time of real 



FBOM TIBERIAS TO JEBU SALEM. 351 

if not of extreme necessity, and made "the conscious 
water " blush that the bride might not blush to 
remember that the wine failed at her marriage. 

There was one conspicuous house in Kefr-Kenna, 
a white building designed for a school to be con- 
nected with the monastery at jNTazareth. Four or 
five miles north is the ruined town of Kana-el-Jelil, 
which is thought to be the place where Cana was. 
The name sounds more like Cana of Galilee. It is 
suggested that the guides have a preference for 
Kefr-Kenna because it is on the direct route from 
Tiberias to Nazareth. Can this have influenced the 
sober-minded Mordecai ? Can this have helped to 
take from Kana-el-Jelil the honor which the earlier 
traditions ascribed to it ? 

We had our noon repast that day in an olive-grove 
at Er-Reineh, and then rode up a steep hill and had 
one of the finest views in Palestine, looking upon 
Nazareth, the plain of Esdraelon, with Hermon and 
Tabor and the range of Carmel reaching to the great 
sea. Nazareth is beautiful for situation and fine in 
itself far beyond any other place we had seen in the 
land. Its white houses, on the side of a' lofty hill 
surrounded by hills, make a fine appearance, which 
is greatly enhanced by the olive and fig trees and 
the cactus hedges which surround them. It seems 
like a city in a garden. As we look down upon it, 
it is the place which we should choose for the home 
of the Son of Man. In this beauty he grew up, in 
favor with God and man. Over these hills he wan- 
dered, looking far off to the mountains or towards 
the waters beyond. He plucked the flowers of these 



352 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

valleys, and heard the singing of birds in these trees. 
In the midst of this bountiful and beauteous nature 
he lived from his childhood till he was about thirty 
years old. The place was suited to the man. We 
can understand in some measure the strength and 
beauty of a character which was formed amid these 
scenes, and the love of nature which marked his life 
and entered so largely into his teachings. He liked 
the great outer world, which had retained so much 
of the nature given to it. We came thoughtfully 
down the hill and pitched our tents at the north side 
of the town, among the trees. 

One thing far beyond all others gives to Nazareth 
its unchanging interest ; yet it has had its history 
apart from the one life by which it has been conse- 
crated. It finds no mention in the Old Testament, 
and has no commercial importance in the New. It 
was only a Jewish town till the time of Constantine. 
It is a tradition that the first church to commemo- 
rate the Annunciation was built by Helena. The 
vicissitudes of rough days robbed it of its increased 
honors, which were restored by the Crusaders who 
erected churches. Saladin wrested it from the 
Christians, and it was soon destroyed. The French 
became its patrons, and rebuilt the Church of the 
Annunciation, and added a cloister. The French 
and the Turks contended at Nazareth and in the 
plain below the town. After his victory Napoleon 
spent a few hours at Nazareth. The homage which 
he afterward paid to Him who was born there justi- 
fies the feeling that deep thoughts filled his mind as 
he stood with his conquering sword at the birth- 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 353 

place of the Prince of Peace. He must have seen 
his own littleness and the vanity of his pursuits as he 
lingered among the quiet memories of Nazareth. 
The present population of Nazareth I cannot give. 
The estimates run from five to ten thousand. 
Among these there are no Jews and a small propor- 
tion of Mohammedans. The place has a prosperous 
look as compared with others. There are steam- 
mills, which are a sign of modern life, and there 
is a considerable trade. It has connection by a road 
with Haifa on the sea and with the country at the 
east of its hills. In the time of Christ it was a 
stirring little place, as one of the caravan routes 
from the sea passed through it and brought into its 
market-place men of various nationalities. Its syna- 
gogue was important as one of the places where the 
priests met in preparation for their service at Jeru- 
salem. It had, therefore, a close connection with 
the great city and its temple. Yet the inquiry of 
Nathaniel, who was of the neighboring town of 
Cana, ''Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?" 
has suggested the comparative unimportance of the 
place and its isolation from the great interests of the 
nation, and perhaps the unpromising character of 
the people. But it is doubtful whether the guileless 
Israelite had in mind anything more than that the 
Messiah could not come from Nazareth. It was 
written that he should come from Bethlehem. It 
will be remembered that in the gospel Nazareth is 
spoken of as a city, which is an indication of its 
character at that time. 

Hither the child Jesus was brought by Mary and 



354 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Joseph when Herod was dead and Arcbelaus was 
reigning over Judea. For the most part, his long 
thirty years were spent here. His father was poor. 
The humble offering which was made when the child 
was presented at the Temple shows this. Of the life 
of the child and youth at Nazareth little is told. He 
was brought up carefully, we may be sure, when we 
remember all which his mother knew of Him. At 
twelve He was taken up to the Temple, his Father's 
house, where He sat among the Doctors, amazing 
them with his understanding. Then we lose sight 
of Him till the time for his ministry has come. That 
He worked at the trade of Joseph is not unlikely. 
He must have had ^some trade by the common law. 
His education was scrupulously regulated. Till the 
Jewish child was ten, he was taught only the Bible. 
From ten to fifteen he studied the traditional law, 
and after that he was instructed in higher matters 
of theology. The home and the synagogue pro- 
vided for the teaching which was deemed neces- 
sary. It is not difficult to think of this ingenuous 
boy growing to manhood under his mother's watch 
and ward. It is not so easy to imagine Him like 
one of these boys or one of these gay young 
men. Surely, He could never have dressed as they 
do, and never have had their bearing and demeanor. 
No ; He was different from them. Yet He was a real 
boy and a true youth, for He was the Son of Man. 
If we shrink from placing Him on these rough streets 
and among these uncouth men, let us remember that 
it was the rough, rude world into which He came, 
that He might be in it the Truth and the Life. 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 355 

Such thoughts come to one at Nazareth, and, 
while he muses on the past and strives to repro- 
duce it, he is reluctant to go down into the city of 
to-day, so unlike tlip Nazareth of imagination and 
reverence. But we are here to see the place. Let 
us go down into its narrow streets. 

Nazareth is divided between the Latins, the 
Greeks, and the Moslems. They have separate 
sections of the town, the Moslems having the small- 
est. When we had taken a general survey of the 
town, we naturally desired to see where the house of 
Mary stood. The house we could not see. Not even 
tradition could do much for us in this case. I do not 
know why the house was removed from its proper 
site. Probably some ecclesiastical exigency de- 
manded it. Or it may have been thought that 
Nazareth could well afford from its abundance of 
sacred associations to surrender one for the benefit 
of distant neighbors. Or it may have been removed 
to save it from Moslem desecration. Whatever fur- 
nished the occasion, angels took up the house and 
carried it to the height of Dalmatia, near the head of 
the Adriatic. It was then taken across the sea to 
Recanati in Italy and finally to the hill of Loretto. 
There it remains, as multitudes of pilgrims can bear 
witness. They can testify also to the method of 
transportation, for only angels could have taken up 
a stone house, thirty-six feet by seventeen, and have 
carried it so far safely and speedily. The early his- 
tory of the house is not known. It does not 
appear in the Italian records until the fifteenth 
century. The walls are encased in marble, though 



356 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the inner side of them can be seen. They seem to 
be " of a dark red polished stone." In the west 
wall is a square window through which the angels 
of the Annunciation flew. It is " the most fre- 
quented sanctuary of Christendom." It is " the 
petrifaction, so to speak, of the 'Last sigh of the 
Crusaders,' " and stands as a bit of Palestine in the 
domain of the Church. The ages pay their devo- 
tions at this shrine where a hundred priests are in 
attendance, and kings and peasants wear the pave- 
ment with their knees as they crawl around the 
holy house. I have borrowed this description be- 
cause the house seems to deserve it in any account 
of Nazareth. Indeed, there are two Nazareths, and 
this house makes one of them in a strange land. It 
is of course known to the monks who are in posses- 
sion of the Church of the Annunciation in Palestine 
that the church has given its sanction to the house 
beyond the sea. They make the best of their loss 
by pointing out the place where it originally stood. 
The church at Nazareth belongs to the Franciscans 
and stands within the walls of their monastery. It 
was very warm as we crossed the yard in front of 
the church. We were soon admitted, and found 
ourselves in a modern building, that is, one which 
in its present form is a hundred and fifty years old. 
It is not large, and its appointments are good. The 
paintings are of the usual grade in such places. 
Marble steps lead up to the high altar and the space 
around it. But our interest was below. Fifteen 
marble steps descend to what may be called the 
crypt. We first entered the Chapel of the Angels, 



FBOM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 3'')7 

where there are two altars, one for the angel 
Gabriel, and the other for St. Joachim, the legend- 
ary father of the Virgin. By two more steps we 
reached the Chapel of the Annunciation. The 
chapel walls are of marble, and silver lamps shed 
a mild light in the dimness. The altar is in a recess, 
where a portion of the natural rock can be seen. In 
front of the altar is a marble slab, with a cross in 
the centre, and the inscription. Hie Verhum caro fac- 
tum est. The stone is worn with the kisses of many 
devout lips. It was here that the house of the Virgin 
originally stood. It is readily seen that the house at 
Loretto does not fit into the place. At the side of the 
entrance to this chapel is a pillar marking the spot 
where the angel stood when he greeted the Virgin, 
" Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with 
thee." Near this is tlie fragment of a granite column 
hanging from the ceiling above the spot where Mary 
sat as she listened to her celestial visitant. To pre- 
vent one from striking against this depending stone in 
the attempt to pass beyond it, a column of marble, 
or the part of one, stands directly under the other. 
From this chapel there is an entrance to the Chapel 
of Joseph, a small dark room with an altar, and the 
inscription, Hie erat subditus illis. Beyond this are 
steps cut in the rock which lead into the "kitchen 
of the Virgin." It is simply a cave, small and dis- 
mal. It is hard to put the gentle Mary there. This 
is not necessar}^ as the cave was doubtless only a 
cistern, and the chimney was the mouth of it. We 
made everything as impressive and suggestive as we 
could. It needed all our imagination. It may be 



358 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

granted that those who have built churches over the 
holy places had a reverent purpose, with their mis- 
taken devotion. If places could have been left as 
they were, they would render a much better service 
and more easily. It is not helpful to go into the 
basement of a church to find a home. The place 
is gloomy, utterly unhomelike. The sanctity which 
has been superimposed is burdensome to the faith 
which would gladly connect sacred events with the 
places in which they occurred. But when all neces- 
sary divesting has been done, it remains that here, 
certainly very near this church and its dark chapels, 
the favored Virgin lived, and here was found by her 
great joy. 

In the quarter of the Moslems is the house or 
workshop of Joseph. At least, that is the name of 
the small building which is also held by the Latins. 
It is not claimed that this was actually the build- 
ing in which Joseph carried on his useful business, 
but that it stands on the spot where his shop was, 
and even rests on the same stones. A part of the 
original wall is also shown. The inevitable church 
now occupies the ground, with a painting in which 
the carpenter is seen at his work, and the child Jesus 
is working with him. We saw the synagogue, or 
the outside of it, into which Jesus entered when He 
came back to Nazareth after He had begun his won- 
derful life abroad ; where He read from the roll of 
Esaias, and announced to his old friends and neigh- 
bors, who listened eagerly to hear what one would 
say whom they had known from his boyhood, that 
the prophecy of God was his biography, already ful- 



FBOM TIBERIAS TO JEBU SALEM, 359 

filled in their ears. The synagogue has gone, but 
the words remain. The angry hearers of that day 
" rose up and cast him forth out of the city and led 
him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city 
was built that they might throw him down head- 
long." The Mount of Precipitation is pointed out, 
but it is too far away to answer the description of 
St. Luke, if the city then was where the city is now. 
There are other places where the mad purpose of the 
Jews could more readily be carried out. It matters 
little what hill they sought, for his time was not yet 
come. In another small, bare chapel is to be seen 
the Mensa Christi, a part of the solid rock which 
was used by our Lord and his disciples as a table, 
before and after his resurrection. The table is some 
twelve feet long and ten wide. It would have an- 
swered very well for the purpose assigned to it. 
We had there the company of a German-speaking 
priest, a monk whose narrations flowed smoothly 
from his lips, but seemed to amuse him more than 
they convinced us, if we could judge from the laugh 
with which he accompanied his tales. 

There is one thing in Nazareth which was proba- 
bly there in the time of our Lord. This is the 
Spring of the Annunciation, or the Fountain of the 
Virgin. It is also called Jesus' Spring and Gabriefs 
Spring. It is found near the Church of Gabriel, or 
the Greek Church of the Annunciation. The water 
is taken into the church and led by the side of the 
altar, where it can be drawn and used by the Greek 
pilgrims who are refreshed as they bathe their ej^es 
and heads. By a conduit the water is led to Mary's 



360 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

well, from which it is taken by the women of the 
city, who continually resort thither for water and 
gossip. It is a busy scene when they assemble 
there, of all ages and many conditions. We w^ere 
amused at the trick of one girl. An old woman had 
put her stone jar down under one of the small 
spouts, and was waiting for the water to fill it while 
her mind was intent on pleasanter things. The girl 
cleverly put her finger at the end of the spout and 
diverted the stream into her own jar without dis- 
turbing that of her venerable neighbor, who was 
prompt in checking the diversion when she discov- 
ered it. The girls of Nazareth have a good repute 
for beauty, and they present a pleasant sight as they 
move from the well into the town, adorned with 
their strings of coins, and bearing on high their 
graceful earthen jars. Mary's well has long been 
used by the people of Nazareth. It may have been 
— it is more than probable — that Mary herself 
visited it with her neighbors. One tradition makes 
this the place where she received the salutation of 
the angel. 

Nazareth maintains its religious character so far 
as institutions can do this. The Greeks have a 
church and a bishop ; the Latins a monastery and 
nunnery, and the Protestants have a church and 
school and orphanage. We were much interested 
in a bright Christian school-boy who came to our 
camp. He spoke English well, and gave us a very 
cheerful impression of his school. We bought in 
the bazaar some flowers of Nazareth, which are the 
chief thing offered to strangers. We bought also at 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 361 

the Bible rooms a copy of the New Testament in 
Syriac. The flowers and the book were good souve- 
nirs of our visit. Travellers are entertained at the 
Franciscan convent, but we preferred our tents on 
an old threshing-floor, where we could be closer to 
the life of the old and new Nazareth. 

It was in the early morning that we rode from the 
town, and all was still. It was good to remind our- 
selves that we were in the streets of Nazareth. By 
the side of the road in one place lay a huge iron 
boiler for one of the mills. For the first time my 
horse was afraid. He refused to go by till a native 
took him by the bridle. He was true to his country. 
With the true Syrian instinct he feared nothing but 
civilization. 

Our path now brought us into the plain of Esdrae- 
lon. It was a relief to get down from the hills 
and to ride for hours on level ground. We could 
ride side by side, or start out on separate raids 
which proved the speed of our horses. It was a 
famous place. '^ It is a wide reach of about twelve 
miles in width between the mass of southern Pales- 
tine and the bolder mountains of northern Pales- 
tine." The plain is two htindred and fifty feet above 
the level of the sea, and is marshy in some parts. 
But the soil is fertile, and in the spring has the 
appearance of '*a vast waving corn-field." It has 
been a renowned place in history. Here the low- 
landers and highlanders met and contended for 
supremacy. Here ''the Lord delivered Sisera into 
the hands of Barak." Here Gideon triumphed over 
the Midianites and Saul was defeated by the Philis- 



362 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

tines and " the beauty of Israel " was slain. Here 
Josiah met Pharaoli-Necho, King of Egypt, as he 
marched against Assyria ; and here he fell, sore 
wounded by the archers. Among the battle-fields 
of later times Esdraelon has a place in keeping with 
its earlier fame. 

We looked off upon the mountains of renown, 
and turned often to look at Nazareth. Its white 
houses were long to be seen. If at any time in the 
path we lost sight of them, it was only to regain the 
fair vision, which was a thing of beauty and delight 
through the greater part of the day. There were 
many places of interest on our route. We saw afar 
off "a city called Nain," once a place of importance, 
now ruins, with a few Moslems finding a home in 
the desolation among the graves. Only a few lines 
in the New Testament preserve its fame. We 
passed El-Fuleh. It is deserted now, but it has the 
remains of a castle of the Crusaders which was cap- 
tured by Saladin. It was near El-Fuleh, in the inva- 
sion of Syria by the French in 1799, that Kleber 
was posted, and here he held in check the Syrian 
army, with fifteen hundred men against twenty-five 
thousand, fighting from sunrise- till noon, when 
Napoleon came to his relief and frightened the 
Turks from the field. Mount Tabor, with its 
rounded height standing so quietly in the quiet 
plain, gave no sign that it had witnessed that con- 
flict which bears its name. It is among the most 
difficult things which the imagination attempts to 
rebuild the cities which have fallen or restore the 
perished people to the places which they filled with 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 363 

life. It is perhaps even harder to bring contending 
armies into the silence and peace which rest on the 
fields where they fought with the fury of beasts and 
the brutality of men. We rode through Sulem, the 
ancient Shunem. The old story comes up at the 
name. '^ And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to 
Shunem, where was a great woman: and she con- 
strained him to eat bread. And so it was that as 
oft as he passed by^ he turned in thither to eat 
bread." When she was persuaded of his holy char- 
acter, she proposed to her husband to make a little 
chamber in the wall, and to furnish it with a bed, a 
table, a stool, and a candlestick. This was to be his 
room so often as he came that way, — the prophet's 
chamber, which has been repeated in many hospi- 
table homes. It was on the prophet's bed that the 
good woman laid her son when he was dead, and it 
was in his room that he gave back to her the living 
bo3^ Familiar as it is, there is a pleasure in telling 
again the simple tale. There is an added pleasure 
in recalling the incident in its own place. But can 
this be Shunem? Can a great woman have lived 
here ? In which of these houses would a weary 
prophet seek bread and rest and find his chamber? 
There are some two hundred families now there, it is 
said. But the town is little more than a collection 
of miserable hovels built of mud and stone com- 
bined. A few wretched survivors were sunning 
themselves, who had only energy enough to stare at 
the strangers. There must be times when they 
work, but this was not one of them. 

Thus we came to Jezreel, which closely resembles 



364 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Sliuiiem. Jezreel is conspicuous in the Old Testa- 
ment, but there is nothing in the place to suggest 
this. It was here that Ahab and Jezebel lived, and 
there are stones now on the hi41 which belonged in 
their palace. So it is told, and I do not know why 
it may not be true. These stones are now the foun- 
dation of a much later building, and at the rear of 
this the inhabitants were sitting around an ox or 
some member of that family, who had recently been 
slaughtered and was then undergoing subdivision 
for the public good. It did not seem an enlivening 
occupation, but was sufficiently exciting for the par- 
ticipants. We passed a small stream in which, 
according to the local tradition, the chariot of Ahab 
was washed after he had been pierced by the Syrian 
arrow which was sent at a venture, and where the 
dogs licked up his blood, as Elijah had said. In the 
Book of Kings the washing is said to have occurred 
at the pool of Samaria. It was not easy to see how 
a chariot could be driven from the palace down to 
the plain. There must have been a road in that day 
which has been lost to sight. Thus we rode over 
the red fields of Esdraelon, with the mountains of 
Gilead in the distance and of Gilboa and Tabor 
close at hand. So we came to Ain Jalud, the spring 
of Goliath. It has this name from an unfounded 
tradition that in this valley the giant was over- 
thrown by the young champion of Israel. The 
Fountain of Jezreel is a more appropriate name for 
the waters which spring up from the ground and 
form a pool, and in part issue from a cave in the 
cliff which rises above the plain. We had our noon- 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 365 

day rest here. It was refreshingly cool as we lay 
on the rocks in the shade, and dreamed among the 
recollections awakened by everything which we saw. 
We were told, and the tale is not improbable, that 
this was the spring to which Gideon brought his 
army when he was to prove his men by the lapping 
of the water, and thus find the three hundred on 
whom he could rely. 

Our afternoon's ride brought us to Jenin, where 
we made our camp. Jenin is the most important 
town between Nazareth and Nablus and is about 
equally distant from them. It was an old Levitical 
town under the name of Engannim, or the Garden- 
spring. That name could easily be corrupted into 
Jenin. The spring remains as one of the sources of 
the ancient River Kishon, and the town stands among 
gardens and orchards. The population is chiefly of 
the Moslem credulity, and numbers from twenty-five 
hundred to three thousand. There is a considerable 
business, especially with the Arabs, from a distance. 
There was nothing of beauty or interest to be seen. 
The houses were of the common shape and color, 
and the few streets had the Oriental characteristics. 
Our camp was in a grassy field among the huge 
cactus plants and beside a graveyard. The people 
of the town have so bad a reputation that the camp 
pistol was fired, the baggage chained to the tent- 
posts, and a watch kept through the night. Some- 
body constructed a scare-crow and put it against our 
tent. These precautions were successful, and the 
night passed without disturbance. 

The next morning's ride had not very much 



366 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

worthy of record. We rode by Kabatiyeh, a large 
village of stone houses. Mordecai said that this 
was called " the village of robbers." Whatever the 
people had stolen they had used up, apparently, 
as there were no treasures in sight and no other 
signs of plunder. The place is reputed prosperous. ^ 
Below us was the plain of Dothan. ^'And Joseph 
went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan." 
Very likely it was by the fountain which is still 
flowing that they were watering their flock when 
Joseph found them. It may have been into some 
one of these ancient cisterns hewn in the rock that 
thej^ cast the dreamer. There was no water in it, 
but it would be a secure prison for the boy whom 
they hated. From Gilead came the Israelites with 
their loaded camels, carrying their spicery to Egypt, 
and to them the boy was sold. What story so full 
of tenderness and unchanging interest, from youth 
to age ! Was it really here that they were, Reuben, 
and Joseph, and the rest, treading these fields, rest- 
ing by this spring ? Doubtless it was here, but we 
cannot quite bring it before our eyes. We passed 
Sanur, a strong hill town. There was a Moslem for- 
tress here, held by a rebellious people, who were 
besieged by Abdallah, Pasha of Acre, in 1830. The 
fortress was taken and burned. The town has been 
rebuilt, and the fortress again surmounts the hill. 
We rode across the beautiful plain which bears the 
name of the ''drowned meadow," because in the 
winter it is covered with water. In the summer 
the lake dries up, and the rich soil is ready for the 
seed and the harvest. 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 367 

We rode on among the hills till we came into a 
broad basin out of which rose another hill on whose 
summit was one of the renowned cities of the land. 
In the historj^ of Omri, King of Israel, we read : 
"And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two 
talents of silver, and called the name of the city 
which he built after the name of Shemer, the owner 
of the hill, Samaria." This city became the capital 
of the northern kingdom. There is another passage 
regarding the place, ''I will make Samaria as an heap 
of the field and as the plantings of a vineyard; and 
I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, 
and I will discover the foundations thereof." The 
sentence has been fiiliilled. Ruins are on the top of 
the mountain, and on its side, and in the valley. 
The ruins stand where a great city w^as. The posi- 
tion was exceedingly strong. The hill was so high 
and so steep that it was easy to repel an assault. 
It was finally taken by Sargon, the Assyrian, after a 
siege of three years. The place had become the seat 
of idolatr}", and there Baal had a temple which Ahab 
erected and Jehu destroyed. The town was rebuilt 
and again destroyed and again rebuilt. At length 
Augustus presented it to Herod the Great, who re- 
stored it and renewed the fortifications, and gave to 
it the name of Sebaste, in honor of the imperial bene- 
factor. The glory long ago disappeared, but there are 
scattered remains of it. Columns are standing in 
their old places, and others have fallen which com- 
posed a colonnade of grand proportions which Herod 
probably erected as an ornament to the principal 
avenue of his city. These stone pillars have a 



368 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

strangely lonesome look as they rise above the 
desolation and stand as sentinels over a perished 
past. There are also the ruins of a church built by 
the Crusaders on the site of a basilica which was 
standing in the sixth century. The church bears 
the name of St. John, and there is a tradition that 
John the Baptist was buried here, while a later tra- 
dition has him beheaded here. On the broken walls 
are still to be traced the crosses of the Knights of 
St. John. In the court within the walls is the tomb 
of the saint, covered with a modern Moslem dome. 
The tomb itself is a grotto or chamber cut in the 
rock, and is reached by a flight of thirty-one steps. 
Besides the one who has giveiitits chief fame to this 
sepulchre, Obadiah and Elisha are also reputed^ to 
have found their last resting-place within it. Near 
the church are the ruins of another building which 
may have been the residence of high officials when 
the church was standing. The modern village 
which has succeeded to the place of Samaria is 
called Sebastiyeh. There is nothing attractive in 
the town, unless it be the fallen columns and blocks 
of stone, some of which have been used for later 
building purposes. 

Among the ruins, beside the standing pillars, we 
had our simple lunch. Men and children assembled 
around us and expressed a desire for bakshish. 
Thus far we understood the Syrian language. One 
girl rubbed her two forefingers together in a mj^ste- 
rious manner. Mordecai said that by this act she 
declared herself a Christian and of the same faith 
and fellowship with ourselves- We were more 



FBOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. gQQ 

pleased with another girl who shared to the full 
the desire for a pecuniary offering, but could not 
claim it on the same ground. She was of a Moham- 
medan family, and therefore could not put her 
fingers together in the prescribed manner. She 
tried to compromise Avith her integrity, and brought 
the fingers as close to one another as a stubborn 
Syriac conscience would allow, but she could not 
give the sign. Her struggle and her victory were 
impressive. They were worthy of the place. We 
relied on Mr. Garry in such cases, and with his ac- 
customed liberality he bestowed gifts on both the 
girls. Thus fellowship acquired the pledge it 
sought and fidelity received its reward. 

A ride of two hours brought us to Nabulus, Nab- 
lus, Sychem, Sychar, Shechem. All these names the 
place has borne. It was Saturday afternoon, and 
we were glad to find our tents in readiness between 
Ebal and Gerizim. It was a good place for the Sab- 
bath. Mr. El-Karey, the Arab missionary from 
whom we parted at Beirut, came to the camp and 
then conducted us into the city. We found our- 
selves in the usual narrow and crooked streets, with 
more darkness and dirt than in most places. Some 
of the lanes or passageways run under houses, or 
houses stand over them, and these tunnels have 
additional horrors, making them hazardous for the 
stranger. When a stream of water is rushing down 
the street the pedestrian finds new difficulties. The 
houses are of stone and have a substantial appear- 
ance. Trees and vines grow among the houses and 
add something of beauty where the addition is much 



370 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

needed. It is a busy town, having a trade in wool, 
cotton, grain, and cattle, with places on the sea-shore 
and in the interior. The olive-orchards enter 
largely into the domestic and commercial life of the 
people, who make a free use of the fruit and convert 
much of the oil into soap. Twenty-two soap-facto- 
ries are reported^ but, judging from the general look 
of things, nearly the whole product must be sent 
away. Of course we procured specimens, chiefly as 
a curiosity. Mr. Garry did the purchasing. The 
population of the town varies in different accounts. 
Conflicting statements were reconciled by the re- 
mark that one counted the women. There is mate- 
rial for reflection in this assertion, but we will not 
dwell upon it. There may be thirteen thousand 
people there, including a very small number of 
Samaritans and Jews, and a few hundred Chris- 
tians, wiiile the Moslems are the bulk of the inhabi- 
tants and are of a fanatical and rebellious sort. We 
were taken to the Samaritan synagogue, which is a 
small room whose walls are whitewashed. We were 
not invited to enter, but allowed to wait at the door, 
where the high-priest appeared, to whom w^e were 
formally presented by our guide. This ecclesiastic 
was a young man and had little of the bearing of 
one in his exalted position. The floor was covered 
with matting, and on this a few men in white were 
seated. Some were on a floor a little raised. 
They were reading their service, which did not 
seem to be impressive to them and which their 
manner did not make impressive to us. One of 
the readers lightened his labor by looking at us 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 371 

and then turning with unconcealed laughter to his 
neighbor. There is in the synagogue an ancient 
copy of the Pentateuch, which was written by the 
grandson or great-grandson of Aaron, — so the tra- 
dition informs the credulous. We wished to see it, 
and a roll of parchment was produced and opened. 
I presume that we were expected to believe that 
this was what we sought, but we knew that it was 
not the most ancient and most hallowed scroll. 
That El-Karey said we could not see. Much elabo- 
rate ceremonial and preparation was necessary be- 
fore it could be taken from its silver case and satin 
robe and exposed to the eyes of a favored few of the 
sons of men. We paid three francs for the one 
which we saw, and that was three francs too much. 

We looked into the great mosque, which the Cru- 
saders erected as the Church of St. John. The gate- 
way is in good condition, and certainly had claims 
to some beauty before the Mohammedans covered 
its stones with tawdry colors. The building has 
borne well the passing of the centuries. 

There is not very much in Nablus to detain trav- 
ellers. The bazaars are like those in other places 
where the manufactures of the country are blended 
with those from the western world. The costumes 
are of interest, the people are a studj^ the camels 
are obtrusive, and the whole scene is Oriental, with 
a border from the newer world. It is the city of the 
elder days which engrosses the thoughts of the 
stranger, who is carried back by its history almost 
to the beginning of things. Shechem was here when 
Abram came into Canaan. " Abram passed through 



372 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the land unto the place of Sichem. . . . And the 
Canaanite was then in the land." Jacob pitched 
his tent before the city and " bought a parcel 
of a field where he had spread his tent. And he 
erected there an altar, and called it El-elohe-Israel." 
I need not trace again the story of the city as it has 
been recorded. It was here that Rehoboam came to 
meet his people and be made their king, and here 
that the policy was inaugurated which divided the 
kingdom. The ten revolting tribes made this their 
capital, and here Jeroboam resided. After the cap- 
tivity it became the seat of the Samaritan worship. 
The name of Samaria extended far beyond the city 
on the hill, and covered all of Palestine which was 
above Judea. The part on the east of the Jordan, 
and that which was afterward known as Galilee, 
Samaria lost, and thus became reduced to the mid- 
dle one of the three districts of Palestine as we 
commonly see it. The Samaritans were separated 
from the temple and city which the nation had 
reverenced, and became idolatrous. The Assyrians 
finally swept them away and into their places were 
sent settlers from the east, who mingled with any who 
may have been left behind by the conquerors. Thus 
a mongrel people possessed the land, and their relig- 
ion was like those who formed and used it. A 
new temple arose on Gerizim, and new rites rivalled 
those at Jerusalem. It is easy to see how there 
came to be the enmity which was so persistent and 
extreme between the two peoples and the two relig- 
ions and which is expressed in the mild words of 
the Evangelist, "For Jews have no dealings with 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 373 

Samaritans." Yet the Samaritans had a good place 
for their home ; and a fine site for their chief citj^, 
between Ebal and Gerizim, in the plain over which 
passed the responsive blessings and curses of the old 
law. On Mount Gerizim are extensive ruins of a 
castle and a church. The site of the ancient altar 
is marked, so the Samaritans think, by a sloping 
rock, before which they take off their shoes. They 
point to the rock on which Abraham would have 
offered Isaac, though that was probably not on this 
mountain : and to the stones of the altar which 
Joshua built and on which he wrote the law, al- 
though in the book which bears his name that is 
said to have been on Ebal. But it seems probable 
that some of the stones that are now lying on the 
mountain belonged in the Samaritan temple. It 
would be expected that the building should leave 
such substantial traces of its presence, even if they 
gave no clear suggestion of the structure of which 
they formed a part. 

Among these ruins the Samaritans continue to 
worship. The great festivals are still observed 
where they were kept in the days of prosperity, 
and the ceremonies are described as impressive, 
while they must be attended with a great sadness. 
There is a true pathos in the words of the Samaritan 
woman to our Lord, " Our fathers worshipped in 
this mountain ; and you say that in Jerusalem is 
the place where men ought to worship." The tem- 
ple of the Jews was then standing, thronged with 
worshippers. But there was a deeper meaning than 
she knew, deeper than the falling of the temple 



374 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

could disclose, in the words with which he replied 
to her : '' Woman, believe me, the hour cometh 
when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem 
shall ye worship the Father." The years have 
brought their fulfilment. The mountain has been 
deserted and in the city the mosque casts its bale- 
ful shadow over all the altars. He meant more than 
this. He did not propose to exclude these places 
from the kingdom which was to come : but that 
worship should no longer be rendered especial!}^ 
at these conspicuous and contending shrines, but 
should be extended through all the earth. These 
are good thoughts wherewith to end the week. 

It was pleasant to have Sunday morning come to 
us in Sbechem. We had slept with a guard of four 
soldiers about our tents, and the day began with 
soldiery, for a procession of men went by the 
camp, followed by women who were wailing bit- 
terly. El-Karey said that they were men who had 
avoided serving in the late war with Russia and 
were now being driven to the army to make ujj for 
their delinquency. 

It had been arranged that we should have a ser- 
vice in Mr. Karey^s chapel, and a man was sent to 
conduct us to the place. It was thought best to 
meet in his dwelling-house, and we were taken there, 
where we had an hour of worship. Including his 
man we numbered eleven. We sang from the Gos- 
pel Hymns, — the Lord's song in a strange land, — 
and worshipped "in spirit and in truth." The brief 
sermon could have but one theme. That Christ had 
been there, that he had rested at the well near by, 



FBOM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 375 

was in our minds, and naturally formed the subject 
of the address. There was a rare delight in reading 
and repeating his words where they were first spoken. 
We lingered for some time with the Kareys and saw 
a little of their manner of life. Their house was 
quite large and very comfortable. But w^e fancied 
that the English ladies had not become entirely 
reconciled to their change of domicile. We invited 
them to dine with us, and in the afternoon they 
came to our camp. We enjoyed extending the 
stranger's hospitality to this missionary and his 
household. It was an event in our nomadic life. 
Mr. Mill and Mordecai and Joseph exerted them- 
selves in honor of our guests, and a repast was pro- 
vided which exceeded all our former experience. 
Everj^thing was in the best of order. Fringes of 
paper adorned our candlesticks. All the elegancies 
which we had were brought forward. The luxuries 
of the time and the place abounded. Course fol- 
lowed course with precision and propriety. Best of 
all was it to have ladies at our table. I can never 
forget our feast under the shadow of the great 
mountains. When it was over, we ended the day 
in conversation, drawing from our missionary friend 
the information which he was glad to impart. Then 
as the evening drew on we said our last good-bys. 
Our friends went back to their home and their work. 
I wonder how it has fared with them since, — if the 
good wife has truly found a home in an Arab city, 
and if her sister still sings of ^' Sweet Beulah land, 
w^here mansions are prepared for me." There are 
many strange things to which the western dweller 



376 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

in the East must accustom himself or ever it can be 
made home to him. His house at least should be 
his own, and there his old life can preserve itself. 

We saw on Saturday in Nablus a funeral proces- 
sion. Men were walking rapidly through the crowd, 
carrying a coffin on their shoulders, and singing a 
mournful chant. Mr. Karey said that when the 
coffin had rendered up its wrapped inmate at the 
grave it would be brought back for a like service 
in another's behalf. It seemed strange to us but 
not to them. 

We thought of Abraham as the sun went down, 
and of those who had looked up to these hills in 
many generations, and then we slept with our sol- 
diers watching before the tents. 

It was well to rise early in the morning in which 
we were to leave Shechem that we might not be hur- 
ried as we wound out of the centuries which still 
remain in the mountains and the valleys. A short 
ride brought us to Joseph's tomb. " The bones of 
Joseph, which the children of Israel brought up out 
of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of 
ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor 
the father of Shechem for an hundred pieces of sil- 
ver : and it became the inheritance of the children 
of Joseph." This place answers the description, 
and there seems no reason to doubt that it was 
here that the coffin of Joseph was laid when his 
hundred and ten eventful years were ended. The 
Moslems say that the body was afterward carried to 
the cave of Machpelah at Hebron. But they join in 
paying reverence to this spot. H. B. M, consul at 



FItOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 377 

Damascus in 1868 was so well assured of the identity 
of this grave that he put a wall around it and inserted 
in the wall a marble tablet commemorating his confi- 
dence and his conduct. The enclosure is perhaps 
twenty feet square, and is open at the top. It is di- 
vided into two parts. The grave is in the usual style 
and is about seven feet long by three or four feet high. 
At each end of the grave is a square pillar which 
was hollowed at the top so that the incense and 
possibly other things could be burned upon it. The 
superstructure of the tomb seemed to have been 
used for a similar purpose. Some of the cinders of 
past offerings remained. In the wall are niches in 
which lamps are placed on special occasions. There 
is nothing impressive about the place except as the 
visitor furnishes it out of his own thoughts. There 
is more than the usual difficulty in connecting the 
man and the tomb. For a life so romantic, so full 
of intense interest, with such a charm for youth and 
age, this is a dull and dreary resting-place. It 
seemed incredible that this could be its earthly con- 
summation. We wanted more or less. Either less 
or more would have been fitting : more of nature or 
less of man. 

Not far away is Jacob's well. This is disappoint- 
ing, of course. Yet we were more familiar with it, 
and in itself it seems more a part of the time in 
which it belongs. The old is there, and changed 
but little except in growing older. It is agreed 
that the well and its name belong together, and that 
this is the well of which Jacob himself drank, and 
his sons and his cattle. Some have been surprised 



378 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

that he should have dug a well here, two miles from 
the city. It was its distance from the city which 
commended the spring to him, it is natural to be- 
lieve. The people of the city would not wish to 
have him and his large flocks and herds depend 
upon their wells, wdiile he would certainly prefer to 
be independent of them. He provided this well for 
his own house, and left it for those who should come 
after him. This personal character of the well has 
been preserved. At the opening of the fifth century 
a church stood around the well. It is reported that 
the church was in the form of a cross, having the 
well at the centre. Before the Crusades the churcli 
had fallen, and part of its ruins remain. At first 
you see only a mass of rubbish, in which is an open- 
ing into what is left of a vault which covered the 
well. You can go down into this vault and stand 
by the true mouth of the well. There is a stone 
over this some two feet square, and in this a round 
hole through which you may look into the neck of 
the well. This is perhaps four feet long. The well 
itself is about eight feet in diameter. Its depth it is 
not so easy to state. In 1697 it was given as one 
hundred and five feet, with fifteen feet of water. In 
1841 it was seventy-five feet. The stones which 
have fallen and been thrown into it readily account 
for the difference in these measurements. A rough 
masonry lined the upper part of the well, and per- 
haps the entire interior. There is an unusual inter- 
est in Jacob's well from its association with him, 
and for the long years in which it rendered a rare 
and needful service to the travellers between Judea 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, ' 379 

and Galilee. But beyond any other attraction is 
that which belongs to it because of its connection 
with our Lord. In no other place can one feel an 
equal confidence that we are on the very spot w^hich 
his presence made sacred. The outer beauty and 
service have not remained. But the lessons wdiich 
lie taught, being here, have lost nothing of their 
meaning or inspiration. 

He had no prejudice which kept him from passing 
through Samaria or restrained him from talking 
with a Samaritan and a woman. Perhaps she came 
at noon that she might meet no one. Why she was 
so far from Sychar, if that be Shechem, we cannot 
tell. Some work she had near the w^ell, it may be, 
or her home even. She came to draw water, and 
found a stranger sitting on the curb, wearied with 
his journey. '' Give me to drink," He said. It 
w^as a chance to triumph over him, this Jew, com- 
pelled to ask drink of a woman of Samaria. He was 
not vexed at her bantering words. ''If thou knew^- 
est the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, 
Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him 
and He would have given thee living water." 
Again she saw her chance, yet was less trifling. 
'• Sir, thou hast nothing to draw w^ith, and the well 
is deep." Still, He would fain help her. '^ Whoso- 
ever shall drink of the water that I shall give him 
shall never thirst." '' Sir, give me this water." 
She had grown to a suppliant in her manner, and 
half perceived there was a meaning in his sentences. 
" Go, call thy husband and come hither." She was 
startled at his knowledge of her, and made haste to 



380 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

shift the conversation from husbands to mountains. 
She drew out from Him that sublime declaration, 
" God is a spirit : and they that worship Him must 
worship Him in spirit and in truth." She was eager 
at last. Her slumbering hope was quickened. She 
forgot her shame in her awakened faith. "I know 
that Messiah cometh." ''Jesus saith unto her, I 
that speak unto thee am He." All this was here. 
The woman here found what so few had discovered 
— that God was her Father, and that living water 
she could have for the asking. Here by this well- 
side she left the water-pot she had brought ; left it, 
the sign of her old life ; and, possessed of a new 
spirit and a new delight, she hastened into the city 
with her question, "Can this be the Christ?" It 
all comes back as we wait by Jacob's well, peer into 
the anxious faces, and hear the earnest questions 
and replies, and look off on the wide fields which 
even then were white with the harvest ; the harvest 
which even yet has not been gathered in. 

Patience, good Mordecai ! When will you bring 
us to another place like this ? " So when the 
Samaritans came unto Him, they besought Him to 
abide with them : and He abode there two days." 
But the sun is getting high, and the way is long 
before us. Let us move on. 

This day we passed Lebonah, which gains the little 
interest which appertains to it from its mention in 
the Book of Judges in connection with the desperate 
attempt by the men of Benjamin to procure wives. 
They were told to go up to the feast in Shiloh, " in 
a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the 



FROM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 381 

east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel 
to Shechem, and on the south side of Lebonah." 
They were to lie in wait in the vineyard, and when 
the daughters of Shiloh came out to dance they were 
to come out and catch every man his Avife, and carry 
her to his home. And they did so. "- In those days 
there was no king in Israel : every man did that 
which was right in his own eyes." A few people 
remain in Lebonah, which is now Lubban, and there 
are tombs in the rocks which are memorials of better 
days. 

Thus we came to Shiloh. The name promises a 
great deal, but the place does not furnish it. It was 
one of the early sanctuaries of the Hebrews, and iu 
it the great Tabernacle was set up and the Ark of 
the Covenant rested. But from the time that the 
Philistines conquered Israel and captured the ark, 
which had been carried into battle, the place lost its 
importance. The sad story of Eli and the charming 
account of the boy Samuel invest it with interest, 
in addition to the other events which made it con- 
spicuous. The traces of a vanished city are now to 
be found, and ruins are scattered over the hill. 
Cisterns and tombs remain in the desolation which 
has fallen upon the better past. We brooded over 
the changes which time and man had wrouo-ht, and 
realized as in few other places how much has per- 
ished out of the history of this land and its people, 
so prominent in the world's thought and life. Here 
at Shiloh, as we rested and mused at noon, w^e saw 
the remains of a church, with thick walls enclosing 
a room with an arched ceiling supported by columns. 



382 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Another building was near by where there was also 
a vaulted room. The sides of the building had a 
slanting appearance from a buttress which slopes up 
from the ground and sustains the wall. Surely this 
was very little for so great a name. 

We came in the afternoon to Bethel. It received 
this name, the House of God, from Jacob, who there 
slept, with stones for his pillow, and saw in his 
dreams the ladder which reached from earth to 
heaven. In the early morning he changed his pillow 
into a pillar, and hallowed it with the oil which he 
poured upon it. " And he called the name of that 
place Bethel : but the name of that city was called 
Luz at the first." The city became prominent in 
the history of Israel. Indeed, it had an earlier im- 
portance. For it was near Bethel that Abram halted 
when he came into the land and set up his tent and 
altar. To Bethel he returned after his sojourn in 
Egypt, and from a neighboring hill he looked with 
his nephew over the surrounding country when he 
gave to Lot the choice of a dwelling-place for him- 
self and his flocks and herds. There the young man 
showed the character which he held to the last. 
Perhaps the old man, who was as a father to him, had 
been over-indulgent towards his brother's son. Per- 
haps the experience of Lot in Egypt had brought 
him under the fascination of city life, so that Sodom 
was more attractive than the country towards the 
Great Sea. But it was here that God came to 
Abram when Lot had left him, and made to him the 
magnificent promise which has been so grandly ful- 
filled. 



FROM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM, 383 

Here Samuel held his circuit court, and here Jero- 
boam established the worship of his golden calves. 
Beth-el became Beth-aven, the house of idols, or 
house of vanity. The situation of Bethel would 
prevent it from being a large place, but its renown 
did not depend on its dimensions, nor could it be 
preserved by them. It still existed after the cap- 
tivity, but its glory had departed long before. The 
town now remains under the name Betin, but is a 
collection of wretched houses where some four hun- 
dred people solicit bakshish and tobacco. 

We made our camp in an old reservoir. This is 
about a hundred yards long and seventy wide. It 
was enclosed in substantial walls, large portions of 
which are now standing. We found an excellent 
place for our tents on the earth which now occupies 
the place of water. At the spring near us female 
Betmites were washing their jars and filling them. 
The process did not make us thirsty as we watched 
it. The girls seemed in excellent spirits, and would 
undoubtedly have been communicative but for cer- 
tain linguistic difficulties. They looked more than 
they said, and the outstretched hand indicated hos- 
pitality less than bakshish. We walked into the 
village on the hill and examined the ruins of a 
church. These had signs of beauty and Avealth 
beyond anything of the present time, and seemed 
strangely out of placed Part of an old tower stands 
in the village ; but who built it, or when, nobody 
knows. A modern superstructure makes it of ser- 
vice to men who could not have erected it. There 
are some ruins in the fields, but none which are of 
any account. 



384 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Our next daj^'s ride was of special interest. We 
passed through Der Diwan, a Christian village not 
far from where the city of Ai stood. Ruins once 
more. In the distance we saw Neby Samwil, the 
mountain where Mizpeh, the watch-tower, is thought 
by some to have been. The name of the prophet 
belongs with the tradition that it was here Samuel 
was born and that here he was buried. We also 
saw Rimmon on its hill, where the survivors of the 
army of Benjamin took refuge after the battle of 
Gibeah when the enemy had chased tlie Benjamin- 
ites and trodden them down bj^ the thousands, and 
gleaned of them in the highways. But six hundred 
men turned and fled to the wilderness, unto the rock 
Rimmon, and abode in the rock Rimmon four months. 

We watered our horses at the robbers' spring, and 
had our nooning under a thorn-tree, whose thin 
branches were a poor protection from the hot sun. 
In the afternoon we had a good view of the Dead 
Sea, which we had before seen afar off, and the Jor- 
dan. We saw the mountains of Gilead, and the 
mountains of Moab, with Nebo, and the tomb in 
which Moslem tradition has laid the body of Moses. 
We passed the Mount of Temptation, with tombs on 
its side. Our way this day was harder than any we 
had seen. Much of the time there was no path, and 
the rocks were strewn and piled in such confusion 
that it was almost like descending a long flight of 
steps which had been shaken by an earthquake. 
We did more walking and leaping and climbing 
than usual, and the horses had enough to do to get 
themselves down in safety. We were coming near 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 385 

to Jericho. We rode past the old town, or what is 
left of it, on the hill-side. The ruins were more 
ruinous than is common. We came down to a nar- 
row shallow stream, called the Sultan's Spring, which 
once furnished water for this city. We preferred to 
recognize it as Elisha's Spring and to receive the 
tradition that it was here Elisha cast in the salt and 
said, " Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these 
waters; there shall not be from thence any more 
death or barren land." We rode through the 
stream, letting our horses drink of the healed 
water from which our camp was also supplied. 
For we set up our tent near by and were not sorry 
that we were drawing near the end of our pilgrim- 
age. Through the day we had two soldiers, in verj^ 
unmilitary attire, as guides and guards. At night a 
man reputed to be the brother of the sheikh came 
in to take command of our forces and to be our 
security against assault. The principle seemed to 
be not that these armed men were in their valor 
strong against all comers, but that they were repre- 
sentatives of the ruling powers and would be con- 
tent with what we chose to give them instead of 
helping themselves. The whole theory of Arab 
robbery, as it was explained to us, was that it is 
simply the act of the strong against the weak. If 
we were the stronger, we might fairly be expected 
to do the same thing. There is much in history 
to justifj^ this view of the matter. It was also 
asserted, and probably with truth, that the Bedouins 
have no desire to harm the person and will only do 
so to secure a higher end or to protect themselves. 



386 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Probably a pistol is most dangerous to the travel- 
ler who carries it. He could hardly do a more haz- 
ardous thing than to use it against an Arab. To let 
it be seen or heard at a safe distance may be of 
some advantage. But it is best to trust to a good 
dragoman and purchase safety at a price which is 
not extortionate. It increased our sense of safety 
to see the doughty warriors at the head of our line. 
But to have the brother of the sheikh ! There were 
no signs of royalty about him, though he was better 
armed than the other guardians of our peace. He 
was a pleasant fellow so far as we could have inter- 
course with him. On the other side of the bushes 
about our tents we heard the cries of jackals. Their 
sound was painfully human. In a great city we 
should have been certain that packs of the wildest 
street Arabs, crowds of hoodlums, were in their 
wildest games and most frantic warfare. 

In the morning we set out for the Dead Sea. We 
soon came into the present village of Jericho. It 
seems absurd to give that name to the forlorn group 
of houses through which we passed. Low and dark, 
with rough walls of stone and a flat roof covered 
with brush on which earth has been laid, they are 
only less dismal than the people around them, who 
seem as unconscious as their houses that there is 
anything unattractive in their appearance. We saw 
the site of the house of Zacchaeus, which is marked 
by a tower-like building and is certified to by a tra- 
dition which is not venerable. Near it is a Greek 
convent and hospice with the neatness and thrift 
which tell of a different class of residents. A camp 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 387 

of gypsies was also there, looking as such establish- 
ments always look, save that in the East their for- 
lornness is unconcealed. Some work was going on, 
and some of the men, finding that we were willing to 
buy their weapons, offered them at prices which was 
a sign of their real poverty and our apparent wealth. 
Thorn-bushes abounded on our path. These serve a 
very good use as hedges, for they are impenetrable 
by man or beast, unless they are violently torn 
away. The belief that the crown placed upon our 
Saviour's head was made from thorns like these is 
rational. We saw the apple of Sodom, a fruit 
which resembles a small apple but has nothing else 
to commend it. Thus we came to the shore of the 
sea. The water was calm and clear, but the desola- 
tion was profound. Something may be ascribed to 
our preconception, but the whole scene is dreary. 
Death seems to be around the sea, as it is in its 
name. The silence was unbroken. The very sand 
and pebbles of the beach had a pale, forbidding look, 
and the scant bushes reaching out their white arms 
as if to repel an advance, while the brushwood and 
pieces of trees on the shore lifted up their weird, 
bleached forms as if they wondered at our intrusion. 
The old belief that these Avaters cover the cities of 
the plain, and that columns and arches can be seen 
in their old places under the surface, has long ago 
been dispelled. The sea, or a sea, was here while 
the cities were standing. Indeed, no one can tell 
where they were. They perished in fire, which 
could not have found it difficult to destroy places 
with a foundation of bitumen. No fish are found in 



388 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

these waters, no shell nor coral, and fish which are 
put into it are soon dead. But it is not true, as has 
often been said, that no bird can fly across the sea. 
The whole place is remarkable. It is thirteen hun- 
dred feet below the level of the Mediterranean, and 
thirty-seven hundred below Jerusalem. The scenery 
about it is pleasant. Ruins are found upon its 
banks, where hermits once found a place of resi- 
dence suited to their peculiar purposes. Sometimes 
a storm breaks in upon the sea and raises its tran- 
quillity into heavj^ waves, which soon become quiet 
when the wind has gone down. The heaviness of 
the water is its most obvious quality. Its specific 
gravity varies in different parts of the sea, but every- 
where greatly exceeds that of common salt-water. 
It is easy to float on its surface and often difficult 
not to do so. If one loses his footing on the slip- 
pery bottom he finds it a hard matter to get on his 
feet again. Mordecai would not let the horses go 
in for fear that they would come to harm. Vespa- 
sian is reputed to have tied the hands of men be- 
hind their backs and then to have thrown them into 
this sea, where he could gaze at their helpless rolling 
and tumbling. When we came out of the water we 
felt as if we had been oiled. We were willing to 
leave the lake to the desolateness which is not 
likely to be broken unless the projected canal 
should take the Dead Sea into its course. We 
were told that French explorers used a steam yacht 
on the lake, and gave it to the neighboring sheikh 
when they were done with it. The Arabs came and 
broke it up, unwilling that the arts of the West 
should invade their barbarism. 



FBOM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM. 389 

We hurried up to the Jordan and dismounted at 
the pilgrim's fording and batliing place. Tlie river 
is so very swift that tliere are usually few places 
where it can be forded or where bathing can be 
indulged in. The tradition that our Lord was bap- 
tized here has given to this place a sacred renow^n, 
and from early days it has been accounted a privi- 
lege to bathe here. At one time it is related that 
the banks were covered wdth marble and that a 
wooden cross stood in the stream. The priest 
blessed the water, the pilgrims entered it, and pre- 
served the linen covering which they wore that they 
might be wrapped in it for burial. The water of 
the river is of a clay color. We went in with cau- 
tion, but found it easy and agreeable to bathe as long 
as we pleased. We were glad to wash off the oily 
sensation we had brought from the Dead Sea, whose 
waters are much clearer in appearance, but much 
less pleasing in all other respects. Trees and bushes 
of different kinds w^ere growing on the banks. We 
were kept busy during our intermission in thinking 
upon the events into which the Jordan runs, and 
gathering up the impressions which the place sug- 
gested. On our return we passed the ancient Gilgal 
on what many think to be the proper place for that 
name. A large tree is now in possession of the 
ground. If this is Gilgal, then here the Israelites 
encamped when they first entered Canaan after 
crossing the divided river. ^' And those twelve 
stones, which they took out of Jordan, did Joshua 
pitch in Gilgal." A church was built afterward 
upon this spot, and the twelve stones were enclosed 
within it. 



390 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

We reached our camp at the close of an interest- 
ing clay. The ride was an easy one. It gave nie a 
good opportunity for a long talk with Mr. Garry, 
who told me many things out of his own life, and 
let me see how much of incident may come into the 
career of a quiet man. I cannot write the tales 
which he narrated. But, as I recall them now, it 
seems strange that we should have been riding to 
Jericho in conversation on tilings which happened 
long ago in the mountains of Pennsylvania. We 
had taken our home and our home-life with us, and 
under all the events and impressions of the Holy 
Land these held their place and were readily uncov- 
ered. As this was our last night together, our men 
gave us a characteristic exhibition. Some covered 
themselves with skins and represented bears or other 
wild animals, while their leaders set them to per- 
forming all manner of antics, yelling at them and 
beating them as if they were beasts in reality. It 
was a droll performance in the evening light be- 
side Jericho, with these dancing, singing, howling 
men entertaining the western strangers. We appre- 
ciated their efforts, which were grotesque and excit- 
ing, but it is hard to give any impression of them in 
words. At length it was all over, and we stretched 
ourselves on our iron beds to rest till the dawning of 
the day in which we should see Jerusalem. Sing 
once more, Logan, before night fairly closes in upon 
us. Sing, '' Are your windows open towards Jeru- 
salem ? " 

The sunrise over the mountains of Moab was very 
fine as we prepared to move on. We took an early 



FROM TIBERIAS TO JERUSALEM, 39I 

start. This was the day to which we had long been 
looking forward. We found the greater part of the 
road very hilly and rough. A part which had been 
recently built was very good. We passed the ruins 
of old aqueducts whose usefulness was over. We 
saw what is left of the Jericho of Herod. We came 
to the inn to which the Good Samaritan brought the 
man who had fallen among thieves. Three men 
were sent to help the poor fellow, but only one of 
them was good enough for the work which should 
immortalize him. There were no guests at the inn 
when we reached it. In fact, the inn itself was not 
there, but the floor of a ruined khan where travellers 
were once allowed to rest. We rode upon this floor 
and thought the story over. It was very near this 
place that the inn stood. Why not just here ? The 
very spot where the Samaritan found the stranger 
was pointed out to us. The road was certainly one 
on which robbery could easily have been committed 
then, or in later times. Noon brought us to the 
Apostles' Spring or Fountain. As the name de- 
notes, the apostles were accustomed to drink of its 
waters in their journeys between Jerusalem and Jer- 
icho. There was at one time a fine building over 
the spring, and part of it remains, holding an arch- 
w^ay over the water. On the opposite side of the 
road was a ruined khan, where we had our simple 
repast and bade adieu to cold chicken. The water 
of the spring was good, and it is by no means un- 
likely that the apostles may have been refreshed by 
it in their time. 

We rode up the Mount of Olives, saw Bethphage, 



392 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

looking dull and dreary on its hill, and came into 
Bethany and rode among its dismal houses, so unlike 
any thought which we had had of the town of Mary 
and Martha. From the mount we had our first view 
of Jerusalem. It was the supreme moment of all 
our journey. This was '' the joy of the whole 
earth," " the city of the great King," " beautiful for 
situation." We saw the hills and walls and gates ; 
the great churches and the countless domes of the 
houses. We saw the city lying in peace where it 
had been for so many centuries ; centuries holding 
the heart of the world's history. Far beyond all 
which we saw with the eye was that which we saw 
with the mind and the heart. For over all which 
was visible we looked upon the real Jerusalem. 

We came down past Gethsemane and the Church 
of the Virgin. We crossed the dry brook of the 
Kedron, saw the swift, clear waters of Siloa's brook, 
and rode through the valley of Jehoshaphat and by 
its graves, past the tomb of Absalom and the pile of 
stones beside it, by the tomb of Jehoshaphat, the 
grotto of St. James, the tomb of Zechariah, the vil- 
lage of Siloam, the Mount of Offence, the Hill of Evil 
Counsel, the Potter's Field high up on a bluff, the 
cave in the hill, the pool of Siloam, and the Virgin's 
Fountain above the valley of Hinnom and its pool, 
past Job's well and Isaiah's tree, under which he 
mended his clothes, by Solomon's garden, which was 
very green ; crossed Hosanna Street, and thus came 
to our resting-place. 

Our entrance into the city was more exciting than 
we expected, and might have been disastrous. As 



FBOM TIBEBIAS TO JERUSALEM. 393 

we rode slowly up the hill, some boys with wheel- 
barrows were coming down. One saw his opportu- 
nity and started on a run. What horse of any spirit 
would endure such a descent upon him? Not 
Prince. He saw and started. I was not prepared 
for this, and for a few seconds it was doubtful what 
the result would be. I succeeded in keeping my 
seat till the good horse was quieted. But the epi- 
sode was a startling one. My faithful attendant ran 
after the boy, but pursuit w^as useless, and we re- 
sumed our march. Soon we were at Teil's Hotel, 
near the Jaffa gate. We were in Jerusalem. 



CHAPTER XTL 

IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 

I HESITATE to begin this chapter. The word 
"Jerusalem " suggests far more than can be written. 
The most sacred influences and associations cluster 
around this beautiful and despoiled city, this proud 
and humbled, this towering and buried capital. 
Who shall write of this ? The guide-book which I 
carried opened its account of Jerusalem with New- 
ton's familiar lines : — 

" Glorious things of thee are spoken, 
Zion! city of our God!" 

Jerusalem is a mountain city. It is on a high table- 
land, more than two thousand feet above the Medi- 
terranean. Standing on Mount Zion and Mount 
Moriah, the city well deserves to be called the 
"mountain throne" and "mountain sanctuary." 
" Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, 
is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of 
the great King." The wall which now surrounds 
the city was built, or rebuilt, in 1542, by Suleiman 
the Magnificent, the successor of Selim L, the con- 
queror of Egypt. The population of the city is 
variously given, but is probably about twenty-four 
thousand. The Christians, Jews, and Mohamme- 

394 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 395 

dans have their separate quarters, as elsewhere. 
The three nationalities have their separate claims to 
the renown of the place. To the two former it is 
pre-eminentij- the Holy City, while to the last it is 
one of the three sacred cities. Few places have so 
eventful a history as that of Jerusalem. That it 
was the Salem where Melchizedek reigned — that 
lonely, stately figure before which Abraham paid 
homage — is more than doubtful. But we read of 
Adonizedec, King of Jerusalem, in Joshua's time. 
When the Israelites came into the land, they took 
the city from the Jebusites who were settled in it; 
but the old proprietors retained Zion, which was 
their stronghold. David captured the fortress and 
established his capital where it stood. Solomon 
used his wealth and power in strengthening and 
adorning the city, and gave to it its chief glory 
when he erected the Temple which his father desired 
to build. When the kingdom was divided, this capi- 
tal lost some of its importance, though it remained 
the centre of the real national life. I cannot trace 
its history through the rugged and broken years 
w^hich followed until its final overthrow by Titus, 
when all the forces which cruelty, tyranny, and 
wealth could devise were leagued against the de- 
voted, despairing, unyielding people, to whom the 
city and its Temple were more precious than life. 
It was a complete destruction. The Temple fell, 
yielding its splendor and renown to the unsparing 
fires, and the towers which the conqueror would 
have preserved as memorials of his costly triumph 
shared the common desolation. The ploughshare 



396 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

passed over the ground where the sacred house had 
been. A little town sprang up around the Roman 
garrison, and afterward Hadrian built another city 
with palaces and temples and the divinities of Rome. 
Wars upon wars, sieges on sieges, brought their vio- 
lence against the city of peace. What names are 
clustered in its violent annals — Chosroes the Per- 
sian, the Caliph Omar, Godfrey of Bouillon, Saladin 
and Selim and Suleiman I It is no wonder that the 
city has gone, buried beneath its own ruins, and that 
its venerated places have been lost. The Jerusalem 
under the Crescent is not the proud city of David 
and Solomon. The stranger walks over the per- 
ished grandeur and treads upon the fallen sacred- 
ness. We are inclined to say that no higher pur- 
pose could be served by modern Jerusalem than the 
restoration of the old by the removal of the new. 
It would be a satisfaction here, as in other places, to 
stand where the past was in the days of its great- 
ness. It is with profound satisfaction that the 
stranger sees that while the city has gone, the moun- 
tains which surrounded it still hold their place, and 
enable him in a remarkable degree to restore the 
Jerusalem which has perished. 

I can write of but few things in Jerusalem, and I 
shall set them in no order. Perhaps in this way I 
can best take the reader along its streets. The air 
of antiquity is on almost everything which is Jewish 
or Mohammedan. What has the look of newness 
has been brought in from Christian lands. The 
streets are like all streets in this part of the world — 
narrow, rough, crowded. For that one cares little. 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM, 397 

It belongs with the land. Mordecai felt a local 
shame as he walked with us through his own sec- 
tion, and he remarked, with a sigh or a sneer, " They 
make us pay taxes to keep the streets lighted, but 
they don't do anything. It takes all the money to 
support their wives." It is natural to seek the old 
Temple, or the place of it, that we may be in the 
city of ancient days. The hill on which stood the 
three temples of Solomon, Zerubbabel, and Herod is 
in the south-east quarter of the present city. Walls 
were constructed on the top of Mount Moriah, mak- 
ing a lofty platform for the sacred houses. The 
platform is irregular in its shape, and its dimensions 
are given differently by those who have measured it. 
For our purpose it is near enough to say that it is 
about sixteen hundred feet on the east and west 
sides, by a thousand on the other two. It is not 
clear on what portion of this large area the temples 
stood. Of the old buildings, of course, nothing 
remains unless it be in separate blocks of stone. 
But portions of the foundation walls, or the sub- 
structure on which they rested, have had firmness 
enough to hold their place. 

It required the usual amount of diplomacy and 
expense to obtain the right to visit the hallowed 
enclosure and its buildings. This business was per- 
formed by others in our behalf, and we entered the 
Haram esh-Sherif. It is not long since Christians 
were prohibited from treading the holy ground. 
But western intrusion has opened the gates, and 
with our armed guard and a retinue of attendants 
we made our way in. We came to an elegant 



398 SOME THINGS ABROAB. 

pulpit of marble, built in the fifteenth century. It 
rests on horse-shoe arches, and is surmounted by a 
canopy which is sustained by slender columns. The 
carving is abundant and graceful, and the whole 
structure is a pleasing specimen of the art which 
constructed it. There was no one to forbid us, and 
with the professional instinct and with the boy I 
ventured up the long marble stairs and stood where 
the duly authorized man preaches to the faithful in 
the fast of Ramadan. We felt that we could have 
discoursed to the edification of the faithful, or at 
least to their advantage ; but they were not there to 
listen, even if our sentiment and pantomime could 
have passed for preaching. There were themes 
enough about us on every side and as far as the 
eye could reach over city and country. It needed 
more ceremony to visit the Dome of the Rock, the 
great mosque in which the interest of the place now 
centres. The mosque stands on a platform ten feet 
high, which is reached by flights of steps on three 
sides. At the top of the steps are elegant arches or 
arcades which bear the name of the Scales, because 
from them are to hang the balances in which the 
righteous and the wicked will be weighed in the 
Judgment. Protecting our feet and the pavement 
with appropriate slippers we entered the '' noble 
sanctuary." This is octagonal in shape, and each 
side is sixty-six feet long. It was covered with 
marble, but porcelain tiles were placed on the upper 
part by Suleiman in 1561. Passages from the Koran 
form a frieze for the building. The Byzantine style 
and taste govern the design of the mosque. The 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 399 

dome, which gives its name to the house, is a fine 
piece of Oriental workmanship. It rests on four 
massive piers, and is itself nearly a hundred feet in 
height and sixty-five in diameter. It is made of 
wood, and is richly adorned on the inside. Under 
the dome is The Rock. Twelve columns stand 
around it among the piers of the dome, and an iron 
railing keeps off all intruders, while a crimson 
canopy hangs over it. It is a limestone rock, fifty- 
seven feet long and forty -three wide, and at its high- 
est part is some five or six feet above the pavement. 
It appears to have been a part of the summit of 
Moriah, and to have been left when the top of the 
mountain was levelled to make a place for the Tem- 
ple. What its history is cannot be told with cer- 
tainty. That Abraham and Melchizedek offered 
sacrifice upon it, and that here Isaac was bound for 
a burnt offering, and that Jacob anointed it with 
oil, tradition claims. It is connected with Mo- 
hammed, which would be enough to make it re- 
nowned. It was the last place which his foot 
touched as he left the earth, and his footprint is 
still to be seen. The rock, naturally and unnatu- 
rallj^ proposed to accompany him, but was arrested 
in its fiight by Gabriel, who left the mark of his 
hand upon the stone. The rock cried out when the 
prophet went up, and its tongue remains in sight. 
The rock now keeps its place without support, if we 
can believe it. This is difficult, because if one's 
eyes are to be trusted it has visible means of sup- 
port. We went into the cavern under the rock, into 
the sanctuary of Abraham and David and Solomon 



400 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

and Elijah, where they were wont to pray. In the 
rock above us we saw the impression of Mohammed's 
head, which must have been immense. In the floor 
is a circular slab which covers a well or cavern of 
some sort, and gives a hollow sound when it is 
struck. It is worth adding that the Moslems regard 
this as the opening into Hades, and that within the 
gloom below the souls which have left the world 
above come twice a week for their prayers. 

The place is rich in sacred associations with the 
past and the future. It has been called the centre 
of the earth. Here, some have thought, stood the 
holy of holies of the temple and the great altar of 
sacrifice. Here the throne will be set in the judg- 
ment when the last day shall come. But I have no 
room for more legends. The general appearance of 
the mosque is very pleasing, with its colored mar- 
bles and painted windows, its domes and arches, and 
it needs no fables to make it worthy of a longer 
time than the stranger in Jerusalem can give to it. 
There is another church, which bears the name of 
El-Aksa, a pile of buildings which with the Dome of 
the Rock really forms one temple. El-Aksa is said 
to stand on the site of the Mosque of Omar, al- 
though it is very much larger. But the building 
was originally a basilica founded by Justinian and 
dedicated to the Virgin. It has fallen with every- 
thing else. The Moslems hold it in high regard. 
It is ninety yards long and sixty-six wide, and has a 
nave with six aisles and many columns of many kinds. 
It is much more like a Christian church than any . 
other mosque we saw. There is a handsome carved 



m AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 401 

pulpit of wood with finely decorated stairs. Behind 
this is a stone which bears the mark of our Lord's 
foot. There are two columns so near together that 
it is not an easy matter to pass between them. 
Indeed one who has not been born in lawful wed- 
lock could not force his way through. Some are 
more strict in another direction, and say that one 
cannot enter heaven unless he can pass through this 
narrow gate. An addition to the mosque proper 
covers the spot where the Mosque of Omar really 
was. In the nave of the church is a slab in the 
pavement which looks like the monument of a mod- 
ern knight, but it is reported to be the tomb of the 
sons of Aaron. We descended to the vaults under 
the mosque, where we saw piers and arches, col- 
umns and walls, which are very old. Mordecai 
believed that they belonged to Solomon's Temple. 
Who shall say that it is not so? We went down 
into a small chapel or oratory, where we saw the 
" cradle of Christ," a niche which has long borne 
this name. There Simeon lived, and the Virgin 
mother passed a few days after the presentation of 
her child. So the stovj runs. 

We went into vast subterranean vaults which are 
called " Solomon's Stables." Mordecai claimed that 
he and Dr. Wilson discovered them. Solomon's pal- 
ace was not far from this place, and it may be that 
some of his numerous horses were quartered here. 
There are a hundred square piers of stone. Many 
of the columns have holes at the edges, in which a 
halter could be fastened, and there the horses of 
Franks and Templars have doubtless stood. The 



402 SOME THINGS ABUOAB. 

old and the new are strangely jumbled together in 
this ancient world. From the wall surrounding the 
temple area we gained a fine view of the valley and 
the hills around us. It was a good place from 
which to survey Jerusalem and mark all which 
belongs to it in its relations to the city tow^ards 
which it looked. The moments were crowded with 
thoughts, and pictures rapidly succeeded one an- 
other as memory drew the lines. I inust leave the 
reader, if I still have one, to think it out for himself. 
The Golden Gate we saw in the wall of the Area. 
There is a projection from the wall six feet deep and 
fifty-five feet long, and in this is the double portal 
which has been called by many names, — the Golden 
Gate, the Eternal Gate, the Gate of Mercy, the 
Gate of Repentance. It is now walled up. A small 
door in the outer wall opens into the space between 
the two faces of the gate-way. In the time of the 
Crusades the procession on Palm Sunday passed 
through the Golden Gate, which was also opened at 
the festival of the Raising of the Cross. Strangers 
are sometimes admitted to the interior now as a 
special favor, and the Mohammedans use it as a 
place of prayer. But the gate itself cannot be 
opened. There is a tradition that on some Friday 
a Christian conqueror will enter by this gate and 
recover Jerusalem. It may be so. Yet the Chris- 
tian conqueror will care little by what door he 
enters. The Moslems have another belief, that when 
He comes, Jesus will pass through this gate and take 
for His own the Gitj which He could not save, and 
with it the whole world which lies about it. 



IN AND ABOUND JEliUSALEM, 403 

We must not linger within the walls, hard as it is 
to go out. Let it be Friday afternoon when we 
betake ourselves to the base of the wall in the val- 
ley of the Tyropoeon. It is a very old wall, and the 
stones in it and under it may have belonged to the 
house which Solomon builded. They have a lone- 
some look now. Thither for centuries the sad- 
hearted Jews have resorted, that they might weep 
over the desolation of their sacred city and cry for 
its deliverance. " In the palace that lies desolate 
we sit in solitude and mourn for the walls that 
are overthrown, for the great men who lie dead." 
We found some seventy or eighty Jews there. A 
few were rabbles, but the greater part were old 
women. The men could not be there, for they must 
be earning their bread in more promising pursuits, 
— that was Mordecai's exDlanation of their absence. 
The people who were there were chanting the Psalms 
in mournful voice, kissing the stones, and wetting 
them with their tears. The grief was obtrusive, but 
in many it seemed sincere. We did not understand 
their words, but we knew what they were sighing, 
'' Be not wroth very sore, O Lord, neither remember 
iniquity forever; behold, see, we beseech thee, we 
are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilder- 
ness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. 
Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers 
praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our 
pleasant things are laid waste." It was a solemn 
scene. We shared the pain and the lament. But 
we remembered that the city died by its own hand. 
Above the wailing and the weeping we could hear 



404 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

the voice of Him who came to save : " O Jerusalem, 
Jerusalem ! how often I would, and ye would 
not!" 

On the other side of the narrow space in which 
we were gathered were a few wooden boxes, on 
which some of the rabbles took their seat. We fol- 
lowed their example and rested as we watched. As 
the service grew monotonous, I had the curiosity to 
see what inscription was on the box which served 
me. Could it be anything appropriate to the place ? 
Anything in harmony with the occasion? It needed 
but little knowledge of ancient languages to make 
out the words. There is one thing from the West 
which we found everj^where in the East. The in- 
scription was of this, and not of temple or mosque, 
of ruined splendor or broken hearts. On my seat in 
the wailing-place in Jerusalem I read this, — ^'Bush 
and Denslow's Peerless Oil. Improved Patent Can. 
Guaranteed Safe, Pure, and Brilliant. New York." 

When we would visit Bethlehem it was thought 
best, for the sake of variety, that we make use of 
the donkey of the country. He was produced in 
sufficient numbers, a larger beast than we see in 
America, and of a variety of colors. I have before 
alluded to the saddle which is put upon his back 
and w^hich adds very much to the height of the 
rider, but lessens his comfort in the same proportion. 
The seat is insecure, which would be an annoyance 
were it not for the feeling that if one should roll off 
he could not fall very far. We had the usual reti- 
nue of boys to make the donkey's life a burden to 
him and to keep his rider in a state of physical and 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 405 

mental suspense, not unmingled with fear. Their 
spasmodic attacks upon the patient animals resulted 
in an irregular series of jumps and gallopings which 
made the ride exciting, if it was not perilous. A 
fine road between Jerusalem and Bethlehem was in 
process of construction. Men were working with 
considerable vigor, while women and girls were 
bringing dirt in baskets. The process was necessa- 
rily a slow one, but it answered its purpose. The 
distance between the two places is about four miles 
and a half. The ride is very pleasant on all ac- 
counts. On every side is seen something of immedi- 
ate or of historic interest. The names of the places 
between which we were riding were enough to 
excite and engage our thoughts. Yet it is singu- 
lar how readily a person becomes accustomed even 
to a country like this, so that the names are spoken 
with almost as little feeling as if they belonged to 
New England towns. It is so hard in the midst of 
the old world to realize that you are there. The 
discomforts which are felt are modern, — the w^eari- 
ness, the loneliness, the moods and methods of men ; 
and these are intrusive and exacting, and in no 
small measure dull the senses to what is of far 
greater account, and cover from view the wonders 
of the land. One has to recall himself to himself, if 
he would make the most of that which he has come 
far to see. We rode by the Well of the Star, or the 
Well of the Magi, which marks the spot where the 
Wise Men from the East regained the sight of the 
star which was guiding them to the child whom 
they sought. We passed the monastery of Mar 



406 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Elyas, where a few Greek monks reside. Near this 
was the bed of Elias, a large rock which retains the 
mark of the reclining prophet. There is some doubt 
in regard to the genuineness of this couch, as it was 
not the prophet, but a Bishop Elias, who at some 
unknown time founded this house and gave his 
name to it. Elijah did indeed lie under a juniper- 
tree and sleep till he was touched by an angel. But 
there is no reason to suppose that he rested on this 
rock, in spite of the depression which it bears. The 
tomb of Rachel has more to commend it. "And 
Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, 
which is Bethlehem. And Jacob set a pillar upon 
her grave : that is the pillar of Rachel's grave unto 
this day." The tradition which makes this the 
place of her burial is very old. For a long time 
there was a pyramid of stones here. Now a domed 
building of considerable proportions, similar to the 
tombs of many saints, stands over the grave. With 
all this there is room for doubt whether this is the 
place where the sorrowing Jacob erected his simple 
monument. In a little cemetery near the tomb 
there was a burial as we passed by. We could only 
look on the group of mourners whose grief was a 
part of the great human sorrow, which gains and 
loses nothing before legends and centuries. 

We rode up the hill and under an arched house 
into the streets of Bethlehem. The town is very 
old, and, like other places, has its different quarters 
for diffei-ent sorts of people. There are perhaps 
five thousand inhabitants, who for the most part 
live by farming. The fertile fields about the town 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 407 

justify the name Bethlehem, "the house of bread," 
and Ephrath, the old name of the place, which is 
thouofht to mean " the fruitful." It was here that 
David was born and was anointed to be king. We 
saw the " Wells of David," or the three cisterns in 
the rock which are called after him. Toward the 
wells of his boyhood the heart of the soldier turned 
when he was at war with the Philistines : " And 
David longed, and said. Oh that one would give me 
drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which 
is by the gate." Three mighty men broke through 
the Philistine ranks and drew the water which he 
longed for, and when they brought it to him he 
would not drink it because it was " the blood of the 
men that went in jeopardy of their lives." He 
"poured it out unto the Lord." Why should not 

these be the wells to which this romantic incident 

* 

belongs? Here earlier were the fields of Boaz in 
which Ruth gleaned, when her devotion to the 
widowed Naomi had its reward, and the alien blood 
of Moab mingJed with the blood of Judah, and the 
stranger became the mother of Obed, the father of 
Jesse, the father of David, and set her name into 
the proudest lineage the world has known. 

Here were the fields where the shepherds watched 
their flocks by night, and " the glory of the Lord 
shone round about them," and the angel gave to 
them and to the waiting world the " good tidings of 
great joy." "And they said. Let us now go even 
unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to 
pass." A part of the fields where the shepherds 
were when they heard the Gloria in Excelsis has 



408 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

been enclosed, to mark the place where the angel 
met them. A church and monastery were there, 
and there is still a subterranean chapel, which is 
called the Grotto of the Shepherds. 

It was of this village the prophet Micah wrote, 
''Thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, which art little to be 
among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one 
come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, 
whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." 
Seven hundred years after that there came a virgin 
from Galilee to be enrolled at Bethlehem, and there 
He was born of whom the prophets WTote and the 
angels sang. 

Surely it was well that we were brought to the 
city of David. For the event of Bethlehem has 
become the centre of the world's life, and the 
Christmas joys are sj)readiiig through the earth. 
It is a prosperous place now. It was interesting 
to see that this town and Nazareth had lived and 
are now feeling the life of later days. Our entrance 
into the chief street was marked. The hospitality 
of the place was at once and profusely extended to 
us. We were not Galilean peasants but travellers 
from the far West. The merchants left their shops 
and clustered around our donkeys, and offered us as 
many inducements as their powers of illustrated 
speech permitted, to enter their warehouses and 
procure their goods. We were more than willing 
to comply, but there was difficulty in making our 
choice among the merchants. We chose liberally 
and examined the goods which were offered in 
abundance. Olive-wood and mother-of-pearl had 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM, 409 

been carved into numberless forms, of chains, neck- 
laces, bracelets, paper-knives, pen-holders, crosses, 
charms, boxes ; while the seeds of fruit were strung 
together into ornaments, and the black stone from 
the Dead Sea presented itself in inkstands and 
vases. There was variety, the goods were pleasing, 
and their associations with the place would always 
render them of value. When our purchases were 
completed, we left the dissatisfied merchants and 
proceeded to the more serious purpose of our visit. 

The central point in Bethlehem is naturally the 
place of our Lord's nativity. On this stands, of 
course, a church, or two churches, which are used 
by three sects who are called after the Christian 
name, the Greek, Latin, and Armenian Christians, 
while each division has a monastery of its own, and 
the collection of buildings forms an imposing pile. 
The main part of the church belongs to the Greeks. 
The building is very old, and is by some traced to 
Constantine, and even to Helena. It has had its 
natural vicissitudes. In the front part of the 
church, which is nearly square, are the nave and 
double aisles, separated by columns of stone. The 
ceiling is of wood. The nave is cut off from the 
transept by a wall, in which are openings through 
which persons can pass to and fro. In the transept 
are the Greek altar, the throne of the Greek patri- 
arch, and the pulpit. Abutting upon the transept is 
the church of the Latins, who were allowed to share 
in the sacred edifice through the kind offices of 
Napoleon III. Their portion is called after St. 
Catharine. It is quite long, but very narrow, and 



410 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

its decorations are more elaborate than among the 
Greeks. The Armenians have an altar in the Greek 
church. It is pleasant to see these three bodies of 
believers using the same church — that is, the theory 
of it is agreeable. There is less unity than would 
be expected; perhaps no more than would be found 
if they were not all of the same general faith. We 
marked that a Moslem guard was required to pre- 
serve the peace. We were told that there is so 
much jealousy that it is difficult to care for the 
house properly. When we were there some trifling- 
repairs were necessary which either party would 
have been glad to make, but which neither would 
consent that another should make. Yet it was here 
that the Prince of Peace was born. That, however, 
was below. Two flights of steps lead from the 
Greek precincts and one from the Latin into the 
crypt. The Greek stairs lead at once into the most 
important part, the Chapel of the Nativity. It may 
have been here that our Lord was born. There 
seems to be no reason for questioning the tradition 
which hallows the spot. 

There was no room in the inn, the khan, to which 
the strangers from the north came at the summons of 
the emperor, which had brought a crowd to the vil- 
lage. The rooms for travellers were occupied when 
they arrived, and they were glad to find a resting- 
place in some lower or adjoining room, which they 
must needs share with the quiet creatures of the 
fields. It is not uncommon in the East for a farmer 
to make this double use of a large room, placing in 
one part a raised platform for the family, while the 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 411 

lower portion is given up to his cattle. In the 
house which we occupied at Mejdel-esh-Shems, I 
found under our room a small household and a 
camel quartered happily in the same apartment. 

A verj^ early tradition places the Nativity in a 
cave. This is not history, but it is not improbable. 
The manger in which the Child was laid was proba- 
bly like tiiose now used — a box of stones and mor- 
tar, in which the Babe could be safely and pleasantly 
cradled. 

The Chapel of the Nativity is about forty feet 
long and twelve feet wide and ten feet high. Its 
floor and walls are covered with marble. In a 
recess stands the altar, under which is a silver star 
w4th the inscription, ''Hie de Virgine Maria Jesus 
Christus natus est." Around the altar fifteen lamps 
are burning, of which six belong to the Greeks, five 
to the Armenians, and four to the Latins. By three 
steps we descended to the place of the manger. 
The true manger was carried to Rome. Very near 
is the altar of the Adoration of the Virgin. The 
place from which water sprang out for the use of the 
holy family is further along in the Grotto. A little 
further on is the place at which Joseph received the 
command to take the young Child and his mother 
and go into Egypt. By five steps we went down to 
the Chapel of the Innocents, in which mothers took 
refuge with their children from the bloody edict of 
Herod, and where they were found and the children 
were slain.^ Near the end of the Grotto, hewn in the 
rock, are the Chapel and Tomb of St. Jerome and 
the Tomb of St. Eusebius. Jerome came to Bethle- 



412 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

hem in the fourth century arid retired to a cell, 
whither he was followed by some of his Roman con- 
verts, who used their wealth in founding .monas- 
teries. Over one of these Jerome presided, making 
it a hostlery for pilgrims. There he made his Latin 
translation of the Scriptures, the Vulgate, the ver- 
sion used by the Roman Church, and produced other 
works of interest. This chapel is reported to be the 
room in which he lived and wrote. Eusebius was a 
pupil of Jerome, or one of those who followed him 
to Bethlehem. Whether there is truth in the story 
which places Jerome here or not, his name and work 
do not seem out of place. A painting fittingly pre- 
sents him with a Bible in his hand. This was a 
notable visit. Beyond all question, we were very 
near the place where the life began which is proving 
the Life of the world. 

We saw but little of the monasteries. We were 
taken into a room where was a long table from which 
visitors may be fed. Entertainment for a few daj'S 
is provided by the Latins. The monasteries serve a 
useful purpose in this way. There is in Bethlehem 
a Protestant school, under German direction, where 
a goodly number of boys and girls are taught. 

I seem to have said very little of Bethlehem, 
where we saw and thought so much. But what can 
I do with words ? The simple narrations of the 
Bible give to the place an unfailing charm. There 
one loves to linger and to recall the days which can 
never be lost in the past. Bethlehem will last while 
the world stands. There are not many places in 
Jerusalem which are associated with our Lord's life. 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 413 

An immense reservoir, called Birket Israil, has been 
regarded as the Pool of Bethesda, on whose marble 
steps our Lord stood when waiting in the place 
where there was no man to put a cripple into the 
healing spring — the vacant place between divine 
mercy and human need. The pool is now nearly 
filled with rubbish, and there is no proof that it was 
ever the "House of Mercy." But it may have been. 
There is nothing interesting about it now except 
this possibility. 

Of the Pool of Siloam we can be more confident. 
We read in the Book of Nehemiah that Shallum 
built " the wall of the Pool of Shiloah bv the kino^'s 
garden." It was to the Pool .of Siloam that Jesus 
sent the man who was born blind, that he might 
receive his sight. That this is the same pool, and 
the same as that now known as Siloam, is gen- 
erally admitted. At one time a church was bailt 
over it, after the custom of the country. Now 
broken walls surround it, and much rubbish has 
fallen into it. But it will always be held in 
special regard, whatever its condition may be. 
Now it is, like the land which holds it, a portion 
of the past. 

When we come to the last days of our Lord's life, 
we can mark his way more clearly. Beyond the 
Zion gate is a group of buildings called by the name 
of David, and containing his reputed tomb. We 
were taken into a large upper room, in which, it is 
said, our Lord kept his last Passover with his disci- 
ples. The room is desolate, with nothing pleasing 
or suggestive in it. It is said that it was here the 



414 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

tongues of fire and the power of the Holy Spirit 
descended at Pentecost upon the apostles.. A church 
once stood on the spot. 

In the same building in which the Lord's Supper 
was instituted we were shown the tomb of David. 
In a recess behind an iron gate was a large structure, 
fifteen or twenty feet long, resembling a coffin. It 
was covered with a green cloth, on which is in- 
scribed, " O David, whom God has made vicar, rule 
mankind in truth." Before this shrine is an arch, 
and within the recess a door and w^indow. Over the 
door it is written in Arabic, '^ This is the gate of the 
garden of Paradise," words which commonly have 
reference to the tomb of a saint. It is claimed that 
by this door access can be had to the cavern in 
which David was laid. The sarcophagus which is 
seen is said to be a copy of the one below, which no 
one is allowed to look upon. The Mohammedans 
are jealous guardians of their sacred places. The 
neighboring Armenian convent is known as the 
House of Caiaphas. There in the altar of the small 
church is preserved the stone which closed the 
Lord's sepulchre, which the angels rolled from the 
door. There can be seen '^the Prison of Christ," 
and the pillar on which the cock stood when his 
crowing warned or reproved Peter. This pillar is 
under the altar, and only small portions of it are seen 
through the plaster which has been put over it. 
The Latin, Greek, Armenian, American, and English 
cemeteries are here. We looked with respect on 
the tombs of the Armenian patriarchs of Jerusalem. 
On some of the stones in the Armenian cemetery 



m AND AROUND JEBU SALEM, 415 

were what appeared to be the signs of the work of 
the man who had been laid to rest, as a hammer and 
anvil, an easel with brushes, and shears. There was 
not very much to be credited in this visit to the 
Moslem sanctuary of David. But tliere may be 
truth under the traditions. 

On our way back we passed the Potter's Field, 
bought with the money of the betrayal. Far above 
us as it was it had a dreary look. A lone tree but 
added to the desolation by its legend that it was 
from its branches that the traitor hung himself. 
Some one suggested that it must have been very 
small for that purpose eighteen hundred years ago. 
I ventured one day to ask Mordecai his opinion of 
Judas. '^He was a bad man; hung himself." ''Yes; 
but what do you think of his conduct?" "He was 
a bad man ; he hung himself." " True ; but he be- 
trayed his Master and Friend. What do you say of 
that ? " " I don't want to talk about it. I have to 
do with all kinds of people, and I must not express 
opinions on such things." We changed the subject. 

In the northeastern section of the city is the 
Church of St. Anne, one of the churches of the 
Crusades. It has kept its integrity very well, and 
has received modern restoration. Napoleon III. was 
presented with this church by the sultan, and it is 
under French protection. The Arabs still attach 
Saladin's name to it. Under the church is a crypt 
cut in the rock. Formerly there were altars there, 
and there is a story that there St. Anne lived and 
the Virgin was born. The church is near St. Ste- 
phen's gate, by which one passes out towards the 



416 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Mount of Olives. The gate also bears the name of 
our Lady Mary. There seem to be reasons for 
both names ; for not far away is a rock marking the 
place where Stephen is said to have fallen under the 
stones which were thrown upon him ; and also very 
near is the Church or Tomb of the Virgin, where 
she was laid by the apostles and remained until her 
Assumption. The present building dates from the 
twelfth century, and is in good condition. We 
crossed the valley of the Kedron, passing by a bridge 
over the channel of the brook, and found ourselves 
close to the church. It is a curiously constructed 
building, being for the most part underground. A 
large porch with an arched portal, within which is a 
door, is the part which is seen on the outside. Steps 
lead down to the space in front of the church, and 
within a long and handsome flight of broad steps 
leads to the floor, which is thirty-five feet below the 
ground before the poi-tal. On the right as you go 
down the stairs is a small chapel with two altars 
and the tomb of Joachim and Anne, who were 
brought from the Church of St. Anne that they 
might rest under the sanctity of their daughter. 
On the left is the tomb of Joseph, the husband of 
Mary. In the ground plan the church proper is 
cruciform, and the stairs enter at the west end of 
the transept. Two-thirds of the way down the 
nave is the sarcophagus of Mary, in a small chapel 
which is reached by a very narrow entrance. The 
Armenians honor and protect the deserted tomb by 
their devotions, as the Moslems were once allowed 
to do, while the Greeks and the Abyssinians have 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 417 

altars near the opposite end of the church. The 
Armenian service was going on at the time of onr 
visit, and we had to wait until the dismal sounds 
had ceased before we could go behind their altar 
into the sanctuary where is the shrine of the Virgin 
to whom all hearts are drawn. A long side passage 
leads to the '' Cavern of the Agony," a grotto fifty 
feet long, with three altars, and the remains of 
paintings on the ceiling. There used to be an altar 
to mark the spot where our Lord forgave Peter all 
his sins, and there was a well which was filled from 
the River of Paradise. On the whole, there is not 
much here which commends itself to faith. The 
most singular thing is the church. It has been con- 
jectured that it is the filling of the valley which has 
left the house underground. Yet the ground about 
it seems to be no higher than it was centuries ago, 
and the oldest accounts of the church present it 
as a subterranean building. This must remain with 
many things which are not explained. 

Crossing the road, we came to the Garden of Geth- 
semane. Here we could feel more confidence. For 
we know that Jesus, after his last Passover, went 
over the brook Kedron into the Mount of Olives, 
"where was a garden into which he entered, and his 
disciples." The Latins have enclosed with a high 
wall an irregular quadrangle whose circuit is given 
as about seventy paces. Entrance is easy, and the 
attendance is sufficient without being an annoyance. 
Very near the gate, outside the wall, is a rock mark- 
ing the spot where the three disciples slept while 
Jesus was praying and suffering. The spot is also 



418 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

pointed out where Judas met his Master and gave 
the kiss of betraj^al. The fragment of a pillar 
marks the place. Within the wall is a hedge en- 
closing seven olive-trees which are reputed to have 
been there in the Saviour's time. There is no rea- 
son to believe this, but the trees are certainly of 
great age, so that they need to be strengthened by 
having the trunk filled with stones, after the man- 
ner of the country. It is possible that they sprung 
from trees which were growing there when the gar- 
den became sacred. There are younger trees, which 
are of no special interest, and flower-beds, which are 
well cared for, and from which the visitor may carry 
away a memorial of the place. The oil of the olive- 
trees is naturally esteemed of rare value, and com- 
mands a large price. Between the garden proper 
and the wall is a passage containing oratories at 
which the devout can offer their prayers, with their 
hearts softened and quickened by the associations of 
the place. Was it just here that Jesus endured his 
agony and poured out his soul in supplication and 
submission? There is nothino: to show this. But 
it was very near this place. It could not be 
expected that the Greeks would allow the Latins 
to hold the garden of Gethsemane. They have a 
rival garden further up the Mount. But, as Mor- 
decai observed, ''how can they get the olive-trees?" 
The very spot cannot be known, but here elesus was 
met by the band which came out to arrest Him, and 
here He gave himself into their hands. The night 
comes slowly back as one waits reverently where 
Jesus was, and thinks upon the hours which sanctified 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM, 419 

the close of his life upon the earth, and brought Him 
under the shadow of the cross. No spot in Jerusa- 
lem is so dear, so sacred, as this. For we know that 
it was here He bowled under the olive-trees and felt 
the sorrows of death. 

*' Mortal I if life smiles on thee, and thou find 

All to thy mind, 
Think Who did once trom Heaven to Hell descend 

Thee to befriend : 
So shalt thou dare forego, at His dear call, 

Thy best, thine all. 

'O Father! not My will, but Tliine be done!' 

So spake the Son. 
Be this our charm, mellowing Earth's ruder noise 

Of griefs and joys : 
That we may cling forever to Thy breast 
In perfect rest ! " 

It breaks the order of events, but while we are 
at the Mount of Olives let us pass to Bethany, which 
is on the road to Jericho. The Franks say Bethany. 
The Arabs call the place after Lazarus, El-Azariyeh. 
We can reach the village by the same way over 
which our Lord walked, as we suppose, on which He 
was met by the triumphal procession which came 
out from Jerusalem to bring Him to the capital amid 
tlieir hosannas. Bethany was a place dear to Him. 
There was the house of Mary and Martha, to which 
He was fond of resorting and where He was always 
made welcome. There the one sister wearied her- 
self in her care for Him, and the other gave Him 
more delight as she sat at his feet and heard his 
words. He loved them both and accepted their 



420 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

ministering. The place where their house stood is 
shown. This is partly enclosed with walls. There 
is no house upon it now. A building occupies the 
site of the house of Simon the leper, where they 
made a supper for Jesus, and Lazarus sat at the 
table, and Martha served, and Mary broke her erase 
of alabaster and poured the costly spikenard on the 
head of Jesus and filled the house with the fra- 
grance of the ointment. In the insight of her 
heart she anointed Him for his burial, and gained 
in his Gospel remembrance for her devotion ; and 
beyond this made the world sweeter ever since by 
her faith and hope and love. 

The appearance of Bethany is forlorn in the ex- 
treme. Some forty hovels contain the Moslems who 
now dwell in the places out of which better people 
have gone. Those whom we saw were not attrac- 
tive, though the begging of the younger portion was 
persistent. I suppose that we felt the dreariness 
the more that the place was associated in our minds 
with the pleasant village of the Gospels. It was 
hard to consent that this should be Bethany. The 
chief point of interest now remaining is the tomb of 
Lazarus. The Moslems hold him a saint and have 
put a mosque near his grave. There was a church 
over the tomb centuries ago. The tradition is 
therefore an old one which marks the sepulchre in 
which the brother of Mary and Martha was laid. 
Again it was difficult to attach the sublime narra- 
tive of the Gospel to the place now connected with 
it. We recalled the days which made Bethany 
illustrious, and the one day which gave it its great- 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 421 

est fame. The simple account of it, written by one 
who was present, can never fail to engage the atten- 
tion and the affection of those who read it. Lazarus 
of Bethany was sick. His sisters, in their confidence, 
sent to Jesus the tidings which were so brief, which 
they knew would bring Him to them — " Lord, 
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick." He lin- 
gered, that the sickness might be " for the glory of 
God," and then went to them. The brother had 
been dead four days. He stood among those who 
bewailed him, with the sisters, whose hope was 
touched with fear. "Jesus wept," not because 
Lazarus was dead merely; for He knew what He 
would do, and that the sorrow would soon be 
changed to joy. But all men were dying and 
dead, and the burden of the world's grief and 
pain was upon Him. He spoke the words which 
have remained for the solace and the promise of 
countless hearts which have mourned their dead. 
In countless Bethanys, by numberless sepulchres, 
has He been heard, through the long and heavy 
centuries, still saying, "I am the resurrection and 
the life : he that belie Veth in me, though he were 
dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and 
believeth in me shall never die." At his bidding 
the stone was rolled from the door which it guarded. 
Jesus, when he had spoken to the Father, ''cried, with 
a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. He that was 
dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave- 
clothes, and his face was bound about with a nap- 
kin. Jesus saith unto them. Loose him and let 
him go." It was here that Jesus stood. Let us 



422 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

believe it. Standing here, He spoke the words which 
proved him 'Hhe Resurrection/' Here Lazarus 
came out of the gloom in which he had been lying, 
and opened his dazed eyes upon the world he had 
deserted. 

'' This is the tomb of Lazarus." So our guide said, 
as if it were a common place ; and it meant so much 
to us. The door was opened for a price, and with 
candles we painfully groped our way down a long 
flight of worn and broken steps to a rude chapel 
where Moslems and Christians say their prayers. 
Then, bending low, we crept through a narrow pas- 
sage and went up three steps into the small chamber 
where Lazarus had been, and out of which he was 
summoned. The dreariness and discomfort of the 
place made devout contemplation difficult. The 
dark, cold, rough walls repressed the feeling which 
we should have been glad to indulge. We retraced 
our way and came slowly back into the light, not 
to be greeted with the strong words of the Christ, 
or the glad cries of the women, but with the harsher 
sound which from many lips breaks the silence of 
Bethany, " Bakshish, Howadji, Bakshish ! " We 
had returned into the world of to-day. It was 
memory alone which could invest the scene with 
interest. Perhaps we had expected too much. Can 
one enter Palestine and not expect what no other 
land has offered him ? He should be thoughtful and 
moderate in his desires, but this is not the spirit 
w^th which he has sought the Holy Land. He must 
not expect to find the miracle there, or the record of 
it on the rock, or those who witnessed it, or any 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM, 423 

memorials which can add aiij^thiiig to the narrative 
of one who has written for us what he saw and 
heard. In this spirit he will find profit in standing 
where the Lord was, and those who were his friends. 
It is the New Testament, and not the tomb of Laza- 
rus, which brings us the comfort of the Resurrection. 
In its living pages we find the times when the vil- 
lage of hovels was a village of homes. There too is 
lived before us the life of the Life. Palestine can 
well be visited while we remain in our own dwell- 
ings. If we do not see it there, we shall not find it 
in the desolateness of 

** those holy fields, 
Over whose acres walked those blessed feet 
Which . . . were nailed 
For our advantage on the bitter cross," 

Leaving the Mount of Olives, we can enter the 
city by St. Stephen's gate, when we are in the Via 
Dolorosa, the street over which our Saviour is said 
to have carried his cross. The street is narrow and 
dark, and leads under arches and arched ways which 
add to its gloom. There are ''stations" which mark 
special points. I need not say that no one knows 
that Jesus passed over this street in his sad walk to 
Calvary, or that imagination has set up the "sta- 
tions." The tradition which makes this the "street 
of pain " does not appear to be very old. The first 
station is in the Turkish barracks, which are said to 
occupy the site of the Prsetorium, the house of 
Pilate. The steps of the house, as everybody 
knows, are now in Rome, where the faithful ascend 
them upon their knees, and the less devout look on 



424 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

in a confusion of unbelief and wonder. But what- 
ever may be the previous history of the stairs, they 
have a historic and abiding interest from their con- 
nection with Luther and that which he did for the 
world. The second station marks the place where 
Jesus received the cross. Beyond this an arch 
thrown across the street is called Ecce Homo, and 
the Arch of Pilate, because it was there that the 
troubled governor brought out his prisoner and said, 
''Behold the Man!" Adjoining this is a church, and 
opposite the church is a mosque. A broken column 
at the third station shows where Jesus sank under 
the cross. Passing the house of the poor Lazarus, 
we come to the fourth station, where Jesus met his 
mother. Passing the home of the rich man at whose 
gate Lazarus was laid, we reach the fifth station, 
where Simon of Cyrene received the cross. In a 
neighboring house is a stone bearing a mark made 
by Christ's hand as he fell upon it where it lay 
beside his path. The sixth station is near the tomb 
of St. Veronica, who gave her handkerchief to Jesus 
and received it back with the print of his face upon 
it. At the seventh station the Franciscans have a 
chapel and a school for girls. The eighth station, 
where Jesus spoke to the weeping women who fol- 
lowed him, is at the end of the Via Dolorosa. The 
ninth is in front of a monastery of the Copts. Here 
Jesus is said to have sunk under the cross. But the 
cross had already been laid upon the Cyrenian 
stranger. 

We are thus brought to the Church of the Holy 
Sepulchre, within which are five more stations. 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 425 

This is the central point, of course, in Jerusalem. 
The most profound interest would naturally belong 
to the spot where the Saviour was crucified and the 
sepulchre in which he was laid. It may be to guard 
us against an undue reverence for the places, and to 
fasten our minds constantly upon the events them- 
selves, that it has been allowed to become impossible 
to tell where the cross stood and where was the new 
tomb wherein never before a man had been laid. It 
is not a very old tradition or belief by which the 
place has been selected on which this church now 
stands. It is said that Calvary was found in the 
reign of Constantine, while others have said it was 
the mother of Constantine who discovered both the 
cross and the sepulchre. We know that Golgotha 
was outside the walls, and this church is within. 
But it is possible that the walls may have been ex- 
tended since the time when Golgotha was described 
by the Evangelists. But it may be added that 
scarcely any man of authority in such matters re- 
gards what is known as our Lord's sepulchre as that 
in which hjs friends placed him after he had been 
taken from the cross. Yet in the fourth century a 
church was erected here, and ever since the adora- 
tion of countless multitudes has been rendered at 
this sanctuary. Whatever other purpose this has 
served, it has kept in mind the facts of the cruci- 
fixion, the entombm.ent, the resurrection, and has 
given them in literature and history a position which 
can never be lost. Here again we may say that we 
cannot be very far from the places where these 
events took place. Fragments of the old church 



426 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

remain. But the Persians destroyed the church, 
which was rebuilt, and partly burned, and desecrated 
by Mohammedans. Then came the church which 
the Crusaders found, and which they entered with 
bare feet and singing their psalms. In the twelfth 
century the Crusaders built a larger church, which 
has remained and has received many additions. 
The buildings of the Crusaders suffered at the hands 
of their enemies and the enemies of their faith and 
from fire ; but a pious zeal continued to build and 
rebuild, till we have now what may be considered a 
modern church, though it retains part of the build- 
ings which have preceded it. 

I shall not add another to the numerous descrip- 
tions of this building or collection of buildings. 
There is a large central portion, with what may be 
termed three wings. The list of its apartments and 
their peculiar treasures is long. The mere reading 
suggests the wealth of sacredness which is here 
accumulated. The church is crowded in between 
other buildings, or rather other buildings have 
sprung up around it, so that there is nothing im- 
posing in its appearance. In front there is a court- 
yard, which is below the street and is reached by 
a few steps. This is a fine situation for dealers in 
mosaics and relics, pictures and charms, and for the 
beggars, who are everywhere shrewd enough to look 
for their victims among the people who go to church. 
There are chapels at the sides of this court, but they 
are not of much account. Entering the open door, 
we soon came upon the Turkish guard, Vv^ho preserve 
order among the Christians, and whose office at cer- 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 427 

tain seasons is not a sinecure. Morclecai, being a 
Jew, would not be allowed in the cliurch, and he 
intrusted us to the care of a guide whose knowledge 
of the church was less than his desire to make our 
visit profitable to himself. With an excellent 
guide-book and plan we had little need of an at- 
tendant. Very soon we came to the stone on 
which our Lord was wrapped in linen cloths with 
spices in preparation for his burial : we saw the 
marble slab wdiich covers the true stone. The 
upper marble is held in great reverence, and pil- 
grims gather there, bowing before it and kissing 
it, and rubbing off its virtue with handkerchiefs. 
Many have brought their winding-sheets that these 
might be consecrated by contact with the holy 
stoue, or with its representative. At the right of 
this stone are stairs which lead to Calvary. There 
is seen the hole in which the cross of Christ stood. 
The places of the other crosses are also marked, and 
in the rock is seen the cleft, a few inches deep, 
which was made when the rocks were rent. The 
sepulchre is on the floor v/hich we left. In the cen- 
tre of the large rotunda is a structure of white mar- 
ble, twenty-six feet long and seventeen and a half 
feet w^ide. The interior is divided into two rooms. 
The first is the Chapel of the Angels, where may be 
seen a part of the stone which the angels rolled 
from the door. From this chapel we passed through 
a low door into the holy sepulchre itself. It is a 
small room about six feet square. Forty-three 
lamps hang from the low ceiling. A relief in 
white marble shows our Saviour in the act of rising. 



428 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Marble columns sustain the roof. The place is so 
covered with marble that the original form of the 
tomb, if such it was, cannot be seen. On one side 
of this small chamber is a marble shelf which repre- 
sents the place where the sacred body was placed. 
There is very little to help the memory or the im- 
agination in the effort to think of the events wdth 
which the place is associated. The words seem 
there more true than ever before, " He is not here." 
In front of this sanctuary there is a raised place 
which serves as a porch, or an open ante-chamber. 
It is guarded by immense candlesticks and candles, 
and is furnished with parallel seats of stone. I 
went one day to the church in company with a 
clergjmian of very high ecclesiastical principles, and 
we took our place for rest and meditation on one of 
these seats, and gave ourselves up to the impressions 
of the afternoon hour. Before long a young man 
whose dress and general appearance indicated that 
his position in the church was of a very low order, 
if of any order at all, stepped before us and began a 
system of pantomime which might indicate a dis- 
ordered intellect. He stared at ns very hard, and, 
putting one foot over the other, drew it back with 
vehemence. His behavior surprised us but did not 
produce whatever result he desired, for he immedi- 
ately and with more emphasis repeated his strange 
conduct. It was still a failure. Then he took his 
seat opposite to us and threw one leg over the other 
and instantly jerked it back with his hands, pointing 
to my friend. His meaning w^as now clear. My 
clerical neighbor was sitting at the door of the holy 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM, 429 

sepulchre with one of his long limbs supporting the 
other. He saw the point and felt the reproof. It 
was very cutting, and he was unable to see the ludi- 
crous side of it. He had been rebuked in church, 
and for an act of indecorum which had attracted the 
attention of the humblest servant of the house. 
Happily I had not offended. If I had I should have 
forgiven myself readily. It was not so with him. 
For he was put to shame in a matter where he was 
careful to be correct. I fancy that remains a sorrow 
in his mind as he recalls Jerusalem. 

At the rear of the sepulchre, and touching it, is 
the Chapel of the Copts, and beyond that, out of the 
rotunda, the Chapel of the Syrians. The Greeks 
have the finest church in the Church. The Latins 
come next, with the Chapel of the Apparition, 
where Christ appeared to his mother after the 
resurrection. Almost every spot connected with 
those sacred days in his life is pointed out and per- 
manently marked. The Chapel of St. Helena is 
below. There are found the altar of Helena, the 
altar of the Penitent Thief, and the chair of Helena, 
where she sat while search was made for the cross. 
Still lower down the natural rock is seen, and there 
is the Chapel of the Finding of the Cross. The 
name tells the meaning of the place and brings to 
mind the whole story in all its romance and interest. 
I have named but a portion of the things which 
are to be seen and believed within these sacred 
walls. But I ought not to omit the centre of the 
world, which is marked by the fragment of a pillar. 

The Easter festival is naturally the time of ex- 



430 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

ceeding interest in these sacred places. The cere- 
monies are elaborate and impressive for those who 
are in this way impressed. The miracle of the holy 
fire is still performed under Greek patronage, and 
still draws a crowd. The procession moves around ^ 
the sepulchre, the lights are put out, the patriarch 
goes into the Chapel of the Sepulchre, priests and 
people pray, the fire descends from heaven and 
gleams through a hole in the wall of the sepulchre, 
the priests appear with lighted tapers, and the peo- 
ple crowd about them to light their own tapers, and 
soon the church is again illuminated. We did not 
see this. But we saw the place in the wall where 
the light appears. 

Let us go into the open air. Again our steps 
bear us over the Kedron and up the Mount of 
Olives. We are following tradition in seeking at 
the summit the place of the Ascension. The Scrip- 
ture does not tell it was there. — " He led them out 
as far as Bethany." Buildings were then on the 
top of the mountain. Still, for a very long time the 
Ascension of our Lord has been associated with this 
spot. Helena built a church there, but perhaps not 
because of the Ascension, for there was a sacred 
cave which needed preservation. There is a mod- 
ern church now there. It is in form an octagon. 
The precise spot within it where Jesus last stood 
upon the earth is shown, and there is even a foot- 
print which he left. All this goes for nothiug. 
But the view from the top of Olivet is wonderfully 
fine. In the quiet of nature and its broad expanse 
there is a good place for thought. Near by is the 



IJSr AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 431 

place where our Lord taught the prayer which bears 
his name. In 1868 the Princess Latour d'Auvergne 
erected a church there, in the form of a Campo 
Santo. Around a quadrangle are covered passages, 
lined with slabs which contain the Lord's Prayer in 
many languages. A small convent is near at hand. 
A little further on is the chapel where the apostles 
did not form their creed. The church which was 
there is gone. The creed, which was written some- 
where, and which is the record of the apostles, lives 
with an increasing life. 

Not from the summit did the Lord ascend, — so 
we are told now. It seems fitting that it should 
have been from a height that he went up into his 
glory. Yet the mountain is not nearer heaven than 
the valle3^ Somewhere upon this sacred hill he 
stretched his hands over his disciples and blessed 
them, and was parted from them and carried up into 
heaven. — ''It is good to be here." 

There are a few more scattered notes upon Jeru- 
salem which I must bring together. Among the 
pleasant hours which I remember are those which I 
spent with the American Consul, who added to his 
fitness for his official duties a rare interest in archae- 
ology, and a large knowledge of the land of which 
so few know anything. It was a great advantage to 
the traveller to have him for a counsellor and a 
guide. It was a credit to the country to have Selah 
Merrill for its Consul at Jerusalem. It is on all 
accounts to be regretted that the necessities of pol- 
itics should have removed him from his place. One 
afternoon the Consul took me to a round hill not far 



432 SOME THINGS ABBOAB, 

from the Damascus gate, above the Grotto in which 
Jeremiah is said to have written his Lamentations, 
and to have been buried. The story is in great need 
of corroboration, but the prophet's name clings to 
the cave. The hill of which I have spoken is re- 
garded by Dr. Merrill and others as the place of 
the crucifixion. It is shaped somewhat like a skull. 
An old Roman road leads towards it. Old Moham- 
medan graves are now upon it, and it is known that 
the Mohammedans do not put graves where a house 
has been, nor a house where graves have been. 
Putting together various points of circumstantial 
evidence, there seems to be reason to think that 
this was Golgotha. He took me to tw^o churches 
near the hill, which had recently been unearthed 
and whose pavement has been uncovered, bringing 
to light the remains of paintings and mosaics. The 
owner of the ground wondered at the unproductive- 
ness of this part of his estate, and, having enough 
energy to look for the cause, found two churches. 
An old Greek tomb had also been found, and we 
were allowed to go down into it. There were places 
for four bodies, and a Latin cross on the wall. I 
found that the Consul had no confidence in any- 
thing in Jerusalem which is above ground. But 
few know so much of what would be found if the 
new Jerusalem should suffer the old to come to 
light. 

The Muristan was founded by Charlemagne as a 
monastery, to which a convent and church were 
added. After a time, the order of Hospitallers, or 
Knights of St. John, was formed, at first for the 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 433 

care of pilgrims, bat afterward devoted to warfare 
on infidels and for the general promotion of the 
faith. In the changes of the times all this went 
down, and a great deal more. But there remains 
something of the old buildings, under the name of 
the Monastery of St. John. The ruins are meagre 
but interesting. The remains were given to the 
Crown Prince of Prussia, when he visited Jerusalem 
in 1869, and under his patronage excavations were 
begun, which have now ceased. We looked down 
into large and deep cisterns, and there must be other 
things concealed which it would be well to open to 
the light. We learned that a church and school and 
other buildings were to be put near the Muristan for 
the benefit of the German community. We went to 
the old and the later church of the Copts, and saw 
their place for the sacrifice of Isaac. We saw the 
stone on which the boy was to be offered. A black 
woman, who seemed to be at home there, said that 
the offering was not made at the stone but where a 
tree now stands, which she pointed out. Thus au- 
thorities differ. In the new church is a dove on the 
top and front of the pulpit, where the crucifix is 
more often seen. There was a prevailing lonesome- 
ness about the whole place, which could not have 
been there in the ancient days. 

The tombs about Jerusalem are a marked feature 
of the place. Among these, the chief are the Tombs 
of the Judges and the Tombs of the Kings, on the 
north side of the city. They are catacombs, with 
chambers and recesses, and were undoubtedly de- 
signed for the last resting-places of persons of dis- 



434 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

tiriction. The tombs of the prophets and the Grotto 
of St. James, on the east of the city, are much 
smaller. These rock tombs were stately burial- 
places; and besides these, which were carefully 
planned, are the many in the cliffs which stand 
above the plain. Some of the special tombs were 
prepared with great pains. The tomb of Absalom 
is cut from the solid rock, in the shape of a cube, 
twenty feet in each dimension, and with a round 
superstructure, terminating in a very low spire. 
The tomb of Zacharias resembles Absalom's, but is 
not so high, and the top is simpler, a pyramid rest- 
ing on the cube which makes the body of the mon- 
ument. The tomb of Jehosaphat has a broad en- 
trance, and several chambers within. 

Mordecai took us to what he called Solomon's 
quarries. He further declared that he and Barclay 
discovered them. They are an immense cavern 
from which stone has been quarried at some time. 
By Solomon ? Who shall say ? We groped our way 
in with candles, but it was rather difficult. Far 
within the cave we found a pool or well. It was 
a fearful place, and we were glad to emerge into 
the daylight. 

The Russian buildings are conspicuous at the 
north-west of the cit}^ There is a fine cathedral, 
with a hospital and hospice for men and women, and 
the Consulate. A thousand persons can be accom- 
modated, and the poorest persons are taken in. In 
the yard we saw a huge column which had not been 
cut away from the solid rock to which it belonged. 
Portions of old columns were discovered when these 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 435 

buildings were erected. The Russians had more 
power in the land than any other nation, and their 
fine buildings made this evident. It was pitiful 
to see in what narrow and barren quarters our 
Consulate was housed. 

Our hotel proved a pleasant home for us. It was 
modern, and well placed near the Jaffa gate. It 
was in the usual Oriental style, with the quadrangle 
and rooms around it. We had a good view to the 
north and west, and good air from the open country. 
Just within the Jaffa gate is the Citadel, or City of 
David, with its five square towers. The founda- 
tions, at least, are very old. This castle was the 
last place to yield to the armies of the Franks. Our 
attention was called to a hole resembling a mouth, 
in a wall near by. This was one of the stones 
which would cry out if men should hold their peace. 
I think the men were not silenced ; but this may 
have been an impatient stone. 

There are three Sabbaths in Jerusalem, — that is, 
there is none. Some shops may be closed on certain 
days, but the greater part are always open. The 
stores are small, but there are niany fine things to be 
found in them. Excellent photographs were to be 
bought, while olive-wood presented itself in innu- 
merable shapes. The dealers were anxious to sell, 
and the competition seemed to be eager. We could 
obtain all we wanted, at prices much below those 
which were asked and not expected. The wares 
were brought to the hotel, but we preferred the 
shops. Every one was good-natured, but there was, 
^t times, more importunity than was agreeable. The 



436 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

beggars were numerous and more persistent than in 
most places. The Greek and Latin churches pro- 
vide room and bread for their poor members, but 
still they beg. The Moslems do nothing for their 
poor. Why should they interfere with the will of 
God? A gentleman whom we met gave one of the 
regular beggars his stipend of so much a week, 
that he might not be assailed by him whenever 
he went abroad. 

There was a small American colony in the city 
when we were there. They had come out by divine 
direction, and were waiting to be told what they 
should do next. Their means of living seemed un- 
certain, but they lived. Some of our company 
visited them, and brought back conflicting reports. 
Mr. Garry brought back one or two doughnuts, which 
were of the New England type, and were worthy of 
a place in the East. These people seemed harmless, 
but visionary. They belonged to a considerable 
class of whom a wise woman remarked to me that 
they came to Jerusalem to help the Lord fulfil his 
prophecies. 

On Saturday night we went to the synagogues of 
the Jews. At the German synagogue I naturally 
removed my hat, when an old rabbi motioned to me 
to keep it on. Mordecai said that was the proper 
thijig, and that it was expressive of the present 
homeless, wandering life of the people. Among the 
Spanish Jews we found four synagogues in one. 
The Sabbath service was just beginning, and seemed 
to us formal and hard, wliile it did not seem impres- 
sive to those for whom it was designed. In one 



IN AND AROUND JERUSALEM. 437 

synagogue we saw a harp hanging on the willows, 
which were breaking under the weight. We also 
saw a rude painting of a steamer. This seemed in- 
congruous, but may have had its meaning to these 
strangers in a strange land. 

We attended service on Sunday at Christ Church, 
which belongs to the English mission. It is a fine 
building. A goodly number of children from the 
English schools were in attendance, but the service 
seemed remote from them and their needs. Yet I 
have no doubt that they are well instructed in other 
places. Just beyond this church is the Armenian 
convent, with a fine garden. 

I was glad to attend a meeting held by the Eng- 
lish clergy on the afternoon of a week-day. It was 
in a room used as a vestry. The room w^as not very 
cheerful, but there was a gathering of the clergy 
and their workers and others. The rector presided. 
We sang, " Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah." A 
part of St. John's Gospel was read. The English 
gentlemen of the Society of Friends who were mak- 
ing a missionary journey took part in the service. 
One of them, Mr. Braithwaite, gave a warm Chris- 
tian address. A German offered prayer in his own 
language. The service was simple, but sincere and 
helpful, and the more to be enjoyed because it was 
there. Is there a better place than this for me to 
close these desultory notes upon Jerusalem ? 

In view of all which has been said in these pages, 
it may be asked if it is well for one to visit Pales- 
tine. The answer is promptly given, and in the 
affirmative. Does it add anything to the sum of 



438 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

useful knowledge, or deepen religious impressions, 
or bring the heart and life into closer fellowship 
with Him whose presence made this the Holy Land? 
This it may do or may fail to do. It depends on 
the person. 

It is of great interest to visit Palestine. It is an 
old land, which has filled an important place in the 
history of the world. From it have come forth 
influences which are felt at the ends of the earth 
and are steadily increasing. Men who have im- 
pressed themselves deeply on the human thought 
have there had a birth-place and a home. If we 
trace to its source what we are proud to call civili- 
zation, with our liberty and all which belongs to it ; 
our homes, schools, governments ; our art, science, 
business ; we are carried past Italy and Greece to 
the narrow, neglected land which lies between the 
Jordan and the Great Sea. History, in any of its 
departments, is not thoroughly studied or clearly 
understood until the things which were wrought in 
Palestine are taken into the plan. It must always 
be with a peculiar and profound interest that an 
intelligent man journeys from the West to stand over 
the buried Jerusalem or to tread the narrow streets 
of Bethlehem and Nazareth. He should be able to 
see through what now is and to discern that which 
has been ; to look past the men whom he meets 
to those of another generation, and to hold inter- 
course with them. A man must be independent of 
his immediate surroundings who would find in 
Palestine that which the land can give him, which 
he can find nowhere else. He will not look for the 
Christ there : but he can see where He was. If he 



IN AND ABOUND JERUSALEM. 439 

has pictured to himself a paradise, an ideal land of 
broad meadows and still waters, of clear skies and 
fragrant airs, a land in keeping Avith the divine char- 
acter which ennobled it, the illusion will pass away 
when his feet press the stony roads and he lies on 
the hard ground and the rains assail him from the 
clouds. But why should the man have made this 
mistake? Christ came into the world as it was. 
He came into its rough and stony places, with its 
sorrows and sins, among the actual men and women 
whose home was there. He saw the wilderness and 
the fruitful fields, the thorns and the flowers, the 
good men and the bad men. Men were poor, blind, 
maimed, bruised, sad and sick, sinful and dead. He 
came to them where they were and as they were. 
If such things are now seen in the land as He found 
in it, this should help us to comprehend the condi- 
tions under which his life of ministry and mercy 
fulfilled its purpose. If one knows the Christ, — 
knows his life, appreciates his design and his accom- 
plishment, — it will be to him a rare privilege to 
stand where He stood, to walk where He walked, to 
feel what He felt. The best guide in Palestine is 
the Bible. The best preparation is sympathy with 
Him who came to Palestine for the world's advan- 
tage. For one who is thus furnished life will grow 
richer and stronger as he walks in the steps of the 
Son of Man, and lets the land and the people illus- 
trate his life. Neither there nor anywhere is the 
letter enough. He needs the spirit. With this the 
days will be memorable, the land will be holy, and 
henceforth more than ever '' Faith will have its Oli- 
vet and Love its Galilee." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

TO THE END. 

Our last night in Jerusalem was marked by an 
exhibition which has a distant relationship to the 
East. Some wandering magician presented the usual 
attractions of men of his craft, and in the usual 
manner. Perhaps the masters of his art, who belong 
in the mystery of lands further east, and in the fas- 
cination of the Arabian Nights, would not have 
recognized his modest efforts at our hotel. But they 
were a diversion for an hour when we could not go 
abroad. 

Our long journey seemed over. We went down 
to the stables where our horses were resting, and took 
an appropriate leave of those faithful companions of 
our journey, and of such of the men as could be found. 
We furnished Mr. Mordecai with an elaborate rec- 
ommendation as an accomplished dragoman, and 
presented to him and to others the gratuities which 
were expected, and which seemed to give satisfaction. 

It was on a Wednesday morning that a wagon 
came to the door, and we turned our faces home- 
ward. Some of our company remained in Jerusalem. 
Mr. Garry, with his accustomed discretion, had left 
the day before. The other three of us distributed 
ourselves among the numerous seats, and set out for 

440 



TO THE END. 441 

Jaffa. The road was steep and rocky, and wound 
down the hill in many and short curves, around 
which our young Jehu drove his horses with an 
entirely unnatural celerity, which made us somewhat 
fearful touching our safety, even after all our expe- 
rience of mountain roads. It must have been easier 
to go rapidly than slowly, or this juvenile native 
would not have broken the established rule of delib- 
eration in everything. We soon lost sight of the 
domes and walls of the city, and felt ourselves fairly 
embarked on our Western journey. We passed the 
fine Russian buildings, the Austrian Consulate, the 
English Mission House, and other suburban and 
modern structures. We hurried by Lifta, tlie 
Nephtoah of whose fountain we read in the Book of 
Joshua. There is still a good spring there, and the 
remains of old buildings. On our right was the 
village of Kul8niyeh, which has sometimes been 
thought to be Emmaus, to which our Lord walked 
with two disciples, Cleopas and another, whose hearts 
burned within them as he talked with them, to 
whom he made himself known ''in the breaking of 
the bread." But Emmaus was threescore furlongs 
from Jerusalem, so that this could not have been the 
place. But near by is the scene of David's conquest 
of Goliah, if we may confide in the tradition. Fur- 
ther on we saw where the young champion of Israel 
found the stones which he chose for his combat. He 
left a great many, and even then took "four more 
than he needed." 

On our left was the village of Karyet el-Enab, 
which in late years has been known as Abu G6sh or 



442 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Ghaush, from a mighty sheikh who with his brothers 
and attendants was the terror of the region. Pil- 
grims were his especial prey. The gang has been 
broken np, but it is said that the timorous native 
fears as he passes the castles, which may yet conceal 
some survivor. Dr. Robinson thinks that this was 
the Kirjath-Jearim, or city of woods, to which the 
ark was taken after its removal from Beth-Shemesh, 
where it was carried after it was sent away by the 
Philistines. He thinks also that it may have been 
the Emmaus of the Gospels. The village of iVmwas, 
still further on, has a name which sounds like Em- 
maus, and some have thought that the honor of 
bearing the latter designation belongs here. It is 
possible that it may be so, though there are serious 
reasons against it. We can at least be certain that 
no one knows where the village was to which a 
single incident in the Saviour's life has given an 
interest so lasting. 

For our noon rest we stopped at Latrun. The 
name suggests robbers, and perhaps with good rea- 
son. It was a simple thing in finding places for 
events to fix upon this as the home of the penitent 
thief whose cross stood beside that of the Christ. 
His name is given as Disma. The place was a 
military station in the Crusades, and the remains of 
an old fortress and church can now be seen. In the 
third century Julius Africanus rebuilt the town and 
called it Nicopolis, in memory of Titus and his 
victories. The village itself has a most desolate and 
ruinous look. But it was interesting to us as the 
half-way place between Jaffa and Jerusalem. How- 



TO THE END, 443 

ard has a very comfortable hotel there, for which the 
patronage is scant. We were told that it was nec- 
essary that he should keep a house on the road, or 
his rival, Cook, would do so. We greatly enjoyed 
our rest. The repose was perfect. Nothing broke 
the stillness. If we had not been beckoned away, we 
should have been glad to remain there and do nothing. 
After a generous pause, we climbed into our wagon 
and rattled on our way. We soon came to Ramleh, 
a large town of three thousand inhabitants, with a 
Latin monastery, and Greek and Russian hospices, 
with churches and soap-factories. The story of 
Ramleh is that it stands on the site of Arimathea, 
the town of Joseph, the wise and thoughtful Israel- 
ite who went to Pilate and asked the body of 
Jesus, and laid it in his own new tomb. It may 
have been here that he lived. Who shall say ? The 
principal mosque was a Christian church, and stands 
as a sad witness to the profanation of a town which 
had churches before the coming of the Crusaders, 
and enjoyed a large prosperity. Its history is in the 
history of the land. The conspicuous object in 
Ramleh is its tower. It stands by itself, lifting its 
solitary grandeur and beauty above the surrounding 
desolation. It is twenty-five feet square at the base, 
and is divided into several stories, each of which has 
its own style and adornment. The top is reached 
by a flight of worn stairs in the interior. There are 
about a hundred and twenty-five steps. The history 
of the tower is uncertain. It belonged to a mosque, 
but whether that was its first use is not so clear. It 
has been known as the White Tower, and White 



444 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Mosque, and by other names. Portions of the build- 
ing to which the tower belonged are now standing, 
but they are too small and scattered to tell much of 
its character. There are extensive vaults, and in 
them one tradition has buried forty companions of 
the Prophet, and another the same number of Chris- 
tian martyrs. Some portions of the ruins look as if 
they were parts of a large khan. There are fine 
orchards at Ramleh, with olive and sycamore and 
other trees, but the place had a very dull appearance, 
and seemed very lonesome. We ordered our wagon, 
which we left at the entrance to the town, to go by 
the road and meet us near the tower. The direc- 
tions were misunderstood, and to our dismay we saw 
the vehicle go past, pursuing its way to Jaffa. We 
shouted, but to no purpose. We ran, but the pur- 
suit seemed hopeless. We found the rough ground 
very hard as we chased our chariot across the fields, 
A boy of the vicinage took in the situation, and vol- 
unteered in o\^ cause. He was fresher and fleeter, 
and, putting his wings upon his unsandalled feet 
and exercising his lungs in the native vocabulary, he 
finally succeeded in stopping our impatient equi- 
page. But for certain difficulties, growing out of a 
difference in language, we might have had an 
explanation from the driver, to which we could have 
added appropriate remarks. As it was, we con- 
tented ourselves with rewarding our Mercury, and 
then pushed on towards the sea. 

It was dark as we entered Jaffa. We passed the 
house of Tabitha, who, under her other name of 
Dorcas, has been the patroness of so much ecclesi- 



TO THE END. 445 

astical cliarity and has bestowed so many coats and 
garments which have gladdened the hearts of 
" sahits and widows." We drew up at Howard's 
Hotel, where we found good quarters and a hearty 
welcome awaiting us. We had been told that it 
was important that we should reach Jaffa that 
night, as the steamer was appointed to sail for the 
North on the next day. We found that the steamer 
had not arrived. But it was not yet the next day. 
The morning came and we were still there. The 
steamer was not. Would she be in that day? 
Howard was non-committal. A less interested 
resident told us that she would not make her 
appearance. '' When will she come ? " " Nobody 
can tell. Last trip she was a week late. She is not 
often so date as that." There was nothing to do but 
to wait. It was tedious and annoying. My passage 
from England was engaged, and the day set for resum- 
ing work at home. Could I carry out my plans ? It 
was hard to have the unsolved problem continually 
recurring, and in a place of no more attractions than 
Jaffa presented. The view from our hotel was 
interesting, although the interest was restricted. 
Across the road was a Mohammedan burial-ground, 
and beyond that the sea, over whose blue waters we 
were at liberty to gaze as far as we wished, and 
much longer. It would have been a pleasing sight 
if we could have been satisfied with a sight of 
the sea. Not a sail intruded itself on the far 
horizon or broke the tranquil surface of the bound- 
less waters. It was indeed the unplanted sea. 
Thursday morning gave us a burial in the field 



446 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

below us, but that was not exciting. We explored 
our own premises. We found that Howard had a 
garden which was fine for this part of the world. 
He had, also, a barouche which he had imported 
from England for visitors of a higher rank than 
those to whom he did not proffer its luxury. He 
had, moreover, an apparatus for making ice by some 
chemical process. This would have afforded us a 
trifling solace on a hot day, but unfortunately it was 
not in working order. We walked out into the 
town. It was as others. The streets were narrow, 
rough, dirty, slippery. The bazaars were small, but 
had the usual variety of people and merchandise. 
Greeks, Latins, and Armenians were found to have 
their monasteries. The mosque was in its place, 
and its bare walls were uninviting. It was well 
that it was so, for it might have been hard to gain 
admission. We came upon a large well which is a 
place of popular resort. Standing in a court, cov- 
ered with an eight-sided roof, or cupola, and show- 
ing something of the Saracenic character, it is a 
finer piece of work than anything else in the town, 
and it was a busy throng of men and beasts which 
was going and coming, through which with difficulty 
we made our way. 

Friday was rainy, very. There seemed to be 
water enough before, as no steamer in these parts 
was in want of any. We had leisure to think upon 
the history of the place, but the amount of our his- 
torical knowledge was not large. It is said that the 
town was built before the Flood. It was the seat of 
an old Phoenician colony. When Solomon was 



TO THE END, 447 

about to build the temple, Hiram, King of Tyre, 
was appealed to for men and trees, and agreed to 
bring wood in floats by sea to Joppa, whence it 
could be carried to Jerusalem. The place came 
into the possession of the Jews, and Greeks, and 
Romans. Its name became changed from Yafa to 
Joppa. Christianity gained an early entrance, as 
we find from the Acts of the Apostles. The stir- 
ring centuries which followed left their mark, and 
the town was destroyed by Saladin. In the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries it came up again. 
The quay was constructed and walls were built. 
The present population is estimated by Baedeker 
at eight thousand, which seems large. There is 
quite an extensive trade with Egypt, Sjaia, and 
Turkey, in soap, grain, oranges, and other things. 
As the only port of southern Palestine, and there- 
fore the gateway of Jerusalem and all which lies 
around it, Jaffa possesses a great advantage in its 
situation. The buildings come close to the sea and 
reach back from it to the base of a higli cliff. A 
reef of rocks runs parallel with the shore, making a 
breakwater inside of which boats . can find room. 
Large vessels must stop outside and in rough 
weather are often unable to effect a landing. In- 
deed, landing is very apt to be difficult, as it can 
hardly be said that there is a harbor. But all the 
conditions favored our remaining. We might have 
ventured out in boats, but it would have been to 
return in boats. Yet it w^as here that Jonah, when 
he was vainly fleeing from the presence of the Lord, 
found a ship which was going to Tarshish. ^'So he 



448 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

paid the fare thereof, and went down into it." That 
vessel seems to have been taken off the line. 

Saturday brought more wind and rain, but brought 
no steamer in sight. We strained our eyes across 
the graveyard, and turned Howard's large glass to- 
wards the restless sea : but no wreath of smoke, no 
moving speck was to be discerned. At times we 
tried to fancy that we saw something unusual, but it 
was only to be disheartened once again. A few 
graves were dug in the morning, and later there was 
a burial. We went out when we were able to do so, 
and found that the rains had flooded the streets. 
They needed washing, and this was the only way in 
which they could get it. 

We made a visit to the house of Simon the tan- 
ner, — to his two houses, in fact, his Latin and 
Greek residences. The Latin hospice covers the 
site of one of them, while a church has succeeded 
to the place of the other. Simon was a tanner of 
Joppa, whose house was by the seaside. Upon its 
flat roof, another Simon, surnamed Peter, received 
the vision which opened the Gentile world to him. 
We found a house by the seaside and went upon its 
roof. Not far away were tanneries. It could not 
have been far from the spot where we stood and 
thought upon Peter and his vision that the house of 
the tanner stood. For two hundred years tradition 
has dignified this site. The Moslems, as would be 
expected, have a mosque on the spot where they 
assert the house was. No one is very far out of the 
way, which is some satisfaction. 

A little beyond the city was the settlement of a 



TO THE END. 449 

German colony. Mr. Garry, with his usual enter- 
prise, investigated the colonists and their buildings, 
and subsequently took us out to his new acquaint- 
ances. There was an American colony there, but 
that had disappeared. The present foundation dates 
from 1868. Some two hundred and fifty persons 
were reported in connection with it. The Jerusalem 
Hotel was in front, and back of this houses and 
shops. A variety of industries employed the people 
and furnished them with a good livelihood. The 
place was quiet, and everything had a peaceful and 
contented look. If the people deem it necessary to 
dwell in Palestine, in view of coming events, they 
seem to be doing it in quite a sensible way. The 
day wore on to night. There were no good omens 
in the air. It was here that Andromeda, daughter 
of Cepheus and Cassiopea, was taken from her boast- 
ful mother and chained to a rock where she would 
be devoured bj^ a sea-rnonster. This is the rock. 
Sunday we kept at home. Showers were frequent, 
the streets were muddy, our spirits were low, the 
English service was on the other side of the town. 
In tlie afternoon we did go with Mr. Garry into a 
neighboring orange and lemon orchard. The Greek 
proprietor was very hospitable, and gave us all the 
information which his knowledge of the country and 
his ignorance of English would allow, and liberally 
endowed us with the immense products of his fra- 
grant and beautiful tfees. Still Perseus delayed to 
come for Andromeda. It was wearisome turning 
our anxious eyes towards the sea and the fair, far 
countries beyond. 



450 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

Monday morning brought an unusual sound. It 
was the whistle of a steamer. No orchestra ever 
discoursed such music, no symphony was ever so 
delightful. We hastened to the balcony, and just 
off the town lay a small steamer — small but comely. 
Our preparations were quickly made, and we hur- 
ried to the quay. Mr. Mill went to the agent's 
office, while we repaired to the banker's to replenish 
our treasury. I asked for £20 and after an hour's 
waiting procured it. Meanwhile, Mr. Mill brought 
us the tidings that the Selene would not sail till the 
afternoon of the next day. He had found that the 
agent was in his bed-room at nine o'clock. Upon 
being aroused and brought into his office, he de- 
clared that no business could be done till he had re- 
freshed himself with his hubble-bubble, or water- 
pipe. That was over at last, and the desired tickets 
were secured. I do not remember what we did, 
except that we waited and complained. 

Howard did all he could for our comfort during 
our imprisonment. He fed us on the choicest which 
the market afforded. He ministered to our Yankee 
taste with what he called pumpkin-pie. If this had 
come a month earlier, before our imagination was 
jaded, we might have given it the same name. He 
did his best. He bore our detention better than we 
did. We were his only guests, and it was not for 
his advantage to send us off. I have a notion that 
he would have let us stay longer in Jerusalem if his 
hotel had not been in Jaffa. I believe that Mr. 
Garry was of that opinion. 

I have mentioned the Moslem burials. They 



TO THE END. 451 

were frequent and peculiar. We saw on the street 
a procession marching to what ^sounded like martial 
music. The music was made by a drum and two 
sets of cymbals. Men led the way, and were fol- 
lowed by women with black veils over their faces. 
A coffin covered with crimson cloth and trimmed 
with flowers was carried by men. At the grave the 
coffin and the women entered a tent. After a time 
the grave was filled up. I presume that the body 
had been taken from the coffin and laid in the 
ground. Then the company dispersed, hastened by 
the rain, though some of the women remained in the 
tent. There was what appeared to be a dispute 
about the grave or something connected with it. 
One woman talked in a loud voice and swung her 
arms violently, and the grave-digger, as I took him 
to be, responded in a befitting manner. 

Women were in the cemetery early on this morn- 
ing. Some were seated around a newly made grave. 
One elderly woman remained through the forenoon, 
when she was joined by another, who threw a hand- 
kerchief over and over, and laid it on the grave, 
repeating this many times with words that did not 
reach us. 

In the afternoon there was another funeral. A 
procession came down the street and entered the 
ground, with a rude band and twelve flags. Men 
followed bearing an open coffin, in which lay the 
body, wrapped for its last slumber. Women in 
white, with black veils, followed. When the grave 
was reached, the women sat, while the men stood in 
a circle and sang a funeral hymn, throwing them- 



452 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

selves backward and forward, swinging half-way 
round, bowing as they turned, finally reducing their 
movements to the shaking of the head. After this 
came the interment. 

We walked on the shore of the Mediterranean, 
picking up pretty stones and shells, and wondering 
when we should go '' sailing into the West." It is hard 
to make plans in this land of deliberation and delay. 
In Jaffa they draw water for irrigation by a system 
of buckets arranged on a rope. They had a similar 
method in Egypt in Pharaoh's time, judging from 
the pictures. The wheel is worked by a mule, 
whose eyes are covered with a cloth. If he could 
see he would not go, we were informed. It seemed 
probable. If he could see the men, his imitative 
instinct would prompt him to follow their customs, 
and the water would remain with the truth. He 
might use his energy in constructing a cigarette or 
raising the fumes of the nargileh; but as a mule he 
would be a failure. 

On Tuesday we were told to be on the steamer by 
half-past eleven in the forenoon. We were there. 
The sea within and without the breakwater was 
quiet, and we made the transit without difficulty. 
We sailed at half-past three. We waited, it was 
said, for the post. A general impatience prevailed 
after a time, and we whistled — that is, the steamer 
whistled — to hasten the operations on shore. The 
post finally arrived, and consisted of several letters. 
It is possible there may have been a paper besides, 
but we did not see any, nor did we know of any 
reason why there should be a paper, except that on 



TO THE END. 453 

such occasions papers are usually present. There 
was altogether about half a bushel of mail matter. 
At last we were off. Our destination was Beirut 
and Smyrna. We were to retrace our voyage along 
the coast. We regretted this. We had hoped for 
Egypt, but there had been a few cases of cholera 
some time before, and the quarantine laws were in 
force and likely to continue. We could have gone 
into the country, but w^hen we could get out again 
it was impossible to say. Hence we left the pyra- 
mids and sphinx for another journey. We had 
hoped for a steamer which would take us directly to 
Italy ; but the cholera had caused the quarantine, 
and the quarantine had deranged the shipping, so 
that we were forced to take anything which offered. 
In this frame of mind we drew a line over the water 
parallel to that which we had left on the land, and 
on Wednesday forenoon steamed again into the fine 
harbor of Beirut. There were the mountains of 
Lebanon, the finely curved shore, the imposing 
buildings, the schools, churches, hospitals, the print- 
ing-press and lemonade. But nothing was quite the 
same as before. Then we were moving into a 
strange and fascinating country. Now we were 
looking towards the home places and home friends. 
The wind was strong through the night, and the 
Selene rolled more than seemed necessary. We 
stopped off Haifa, and could see the lights in the 
town, and, beyond and above, the mountains of 
Carmel, holding their long, dark line against the 
dark sky. The most interesting feature of the pas- 
sage was the presence of an Arab, of whom, even 



454 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

now, it is a pain to write. When we were at the 
Mediterranean Hotel, in Jerusalem, as the guests of 
the American Consul, a fine-looking Arab was in 
charge of the dining-room, and he cared for us with 
dignity and intelligence. He was born in Egypt, 
and his parents were Moslems. They died when he 
was a child, and he was brought up in the Roman 
Catholic Church, and for twenty years had been a 
Christian. Being a Christian, he could not be forced 
into the Turkish army, and he had paid the tax 
which was accounted a substitute for personal ser- 
vice. But one morning, as he was on his way to 
market, he was seized, taken before the court, and 
made to draw from the drafting-box. Of course he 
drew a black paper, and was doomed to military 
service. He had a wife and four children, but he 
was not allowed to see them. He was at once 
started for Jaffa. His case was hopeless. Every 
one who knew with whom the man had to deal said 
that he would never come back. The interference 
of the Latin Church was hoped for, which might 
send the case to France. But if he was released, 
what would he gain? He would still be in the 
hands of the Turks. Or, as one man suggestively 
remarked to me, he would very soon die. Fatal 
maladies can be produced at an instant's notice. 
The plan was to have Mustapha walk to Jaffa. 
It was a cruel march, for it was a very long way, 
and the poor fellow was heavy and unused to exer- 
cise. Some of his friends found out what had been 
done, and sent a horse after him. But it was after- 
ward learned that the men feared the soldiers and 



TO THE END, 455 

did not come up with them. He was forced to walk 
to Ramleh, where he succeeded in hiring two don- 
keys for liimself and the officer in whose special 
charge he was, who needed, I believe, a furtlier 
bribe to make him consent to this arrangement. 
So he reached Jaffa, where he was thrown into 
jail with some twenty ragamuffins, who had been 
seized on various pretexts and were destined for 
the army. There he was kept eight days in the 
greatest discomfort. He received some small kind- 
ness from friends, but his confinement was most 
painful to him. Whether he looked back to Jeru- 
salem and his home, or forward to his unknown 
fate, his thoughts could only be burdened with 
anxiety and dread. 

Mustapha was brought to our steamer, where we 
were able to talk with him. He thought that his 
seizure was due to the betrayal of his confidence 
by a Turkish effendi at the hotel. The charge 
against him was that he had abandoned the Moslem 
faith. Against this he had a good defence, if he 
had been in a country of law and justice. He was 
one of a sorry-looking company of Arabs, half- 
naked, ragged, infested with vermin. Falstaff would 
have spurned the lot. Mustapha made little com- 
plaint. He seemed submissive, and to cherish an 
indefinite confidence that things would turn out 
better than they promised. " I trust in the Lord," 
he said. We were glad of the trust, but we should 
have been glad to see more spirit on his own part. 
He had a hope that he might be released, through 
the efforts of his friends, when he would seek a 



456 SOME THINGS ABBOAD, 

home in America. At Beirut the men were taken 
on shore. The others were crowded into the bows 
of a boat, but Mustapha sat in the stern with the 
officers. He gave us a cheerful good-by as the 
boat pushed off. 

We landed some brown monks, also, who were 
lowered into the boat by their arms. We enjoyed 
the process more than they did. We had rather a 
varied company, for a third of the upper deck was 
covered with canvas, maidng an apartment for a 
few Moslems. 

We were at Beirut at nine in the morning. There 
was a high wind and sea, with rain, but the condi- 
tion of things improved. At half-past one a boat 
came for freight. Some one, somewhere, seemed 
to have awakened to the fact that we were there 
to discharge a portion of our cargo. The men who 
came in the boats were fine-looking fellows, quick, 
strong, and willing. They were so much better 
than their betters. If only they could be made the 
rulers, and the palaces and offices emptied into the 
boats ! 

Thursday was a bright day, and the snow was 
glittering on Lebanon. The morning was well ad- 
vanced before we received any freight. One impor- 
tant thing was accomplished. A barber came from 
the shore and shaved the captain. A French 
steamer came in, destined for Jaffa. There was 
in port an English steamer on her way to Port 
Said. But it was too late for the land of the 
Nile. We found that but one course was open to 
us, to return to Smja^na, and there at some time 



TO THE END. 467 

to catch a steamer bound somewhere. We went on 
shore, went to the hotel and read the Latest papers, 
visited the Bible House and American school^ and 
enjoyed a few hours of civilization. We remem- 
bered that at home this was Thanksgiving Day, and 
we gave thanks. When we returned to the ship 
we found that four or five hundred men had been 
taken on board and were to be forced into the 
Turkish army. There was a good deal of bustle, 
preparatory to our sailing. Mr. Mill planned to 
have Mustapha escape. He had been brought back 
to the ship. Mill had fl-ranged with some one on 
shore to take care of him if he should get away. 
It seemed not very difficult, as no one was watching 
him, and boats were coming and going. He got a 
soft felt hat for him and a coat unlike that he had 
been wearing, and told him to watch his chance and 
slip into a boat which would carry him ashore. All 
went well. Mustapha made his way down the 
steps, and took his seat in a friendly boat. He was 
already quite a distance from the ship when some 
wretch, who should have been thrown overboard, 
screamed out, " One of your soldiers is running 
away." It was all over. Mustapha was brought 
back, his small store of money was taken from him, 
and an eye was kept upon him till we had left the 
harbor. He had no further punishment, so far as 
we knew. We saw him from dav to dav, and there 
seemed to be in him a mixture of Moslem fatalism 
and Christian faith. He was taken to Constanti- 
nople, I suppose, and sent somewhere into the 
interior, where he could not readily be found, and 



458 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

where he could expiate his crime of being a 
Christian. 

The captain's clean clothes came oflP in the same 
boat with us, and there seemed to be nothing more 
to detain the Selene. At seven in the evening we 
sailed once more out of the beautiful harbor of 
Beirut. The next morning we were at Larnaka, on 
Cyprus, where we remained till one. Saturday was 
a pleasant day, but Sunday was dark and rainy. 
Patmos was covered with clouds. The day was in 
severe contrast to the Sabbath when we passed 
through the same waters, going in the opposite direc- 
tion. But our voyage was made interesting by the 
soldiers whom we had on board. They were wretch- 
edly clothed, but they seemed, for the most part, in 
good spirits. They had been seized in the fields and 
about their work, and hurried off as they were, 
under the charge that they had evaded the lawful 
military service, and must now pay their dues to the 
State, which deserved nothing. In themselves they 
were a good-looking set of men. They were well 
made, and their faces showed a fair degree of intelli- 
gence. I doubt if the same number of men swept in 
from any country would have made a better appear- 
aace. There was variety in their dress, or undress. 
They were like the men we had seen in our ride 
through the country. It was most interesting to 
watch them from time to time through the day. 
Some would be lying on the deck asleep. Here one 
would be telling his beads, and there one having his 
unkempt head gleaned by friendly hands. There 
was a kitten which did its part to relieve their 



TO THE END. 459 

monotony. Some would be found looking over their 
scanty clothes, and making any practicable improve- 
ment. The saddest sight of all was where one or 
two would be apart from their companions, sitting 
with mournful faces, thinking of the home and 
friends from which they had been torn, and of the 
dreadful life to which they were being carried. It 
seemed easy to interpret their thoughts. There one 
thought of his wife and children, left destitute, and 
wondering why he did not come in from the field. 
There a boy heard his mother's voice, and saw her 
anxious face peering into the gloom of evening, 
watching for his return. Here a young man, of fine 
bearing, with a face inexpressibly sad, submitted to 
his fate, while his heart was with the maiden w^hom 
he loved, who was to have joined her life to his when 
the harvest should be gathered in, who must wait 
while their sundered lives languished for the day 
w^hich might never come. 

We liked to watch the giving-out of rations. 
These consisted of olives and onions, with water. 
At first the men seemed to have bread in their bags. 
Some had brought oranges and grapes. After a 
time bread also was given to them. It was very 
hard. Even Arab teeth demanded that it be soaked. 
Once we found a dispute going on over the bread. 
Words grew loud, and scales were brought. Then 
the bread was weighed out in lots for six or eight 
men. It was in slices and pieces. The men were 
generally quiet while they were being fed. They 
had a natural courtesy. Once an officer who had 
been very rough in his manner towards them began 



460 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

to take off his coat that he might work more easily. 
They began to help him, and when the coat was off 
and he was holding it, a man offered to take it, and 
it was given into his keeping. A quarrel now and 
then enlivened the hours. Men from different parts 
of the country asserted themselves against one an- 
other, and blows followed. But blows come so 
readily among these men that there seems to be no 
ill-will in them, or only that which is of short dura- 
tion. Once two men on board had a fight. One 
whipped the other. Whereupon the officer beat the 
victor, and equilibrium was restored. 

We reached Smyrna at one o'clock Monday after- 
noon, and went to the Mille Hotel on the quay. 
Mr. Garry asserted that the terms offered by the 
runners of the house were not confirmed on shore, 
and he sought quarters of his own. But the rest 
were satisfied with the Mille. We found that on 
Wednesday a steamer would sail for Italy, via the 
Piraeus. It seemed hard to lose another day. Yet 
it was expedient on our own account. The boy, who 
had been wonderfully well and happy through the 
entire journey, began to falter at Beirut, and on the 
voyage to Smyrna was dizzy and weak. The. sur- 
geon of the steamer, in intervals of comparative so- 
briety, looked at him, and expressed the professional 
opinion that the trouble was only of a temporary 
character. I think he expressed himself more seri- 
ously to others. It was a relief, therefore, that we 
could lie over at Smyrna. A German physician was 
called, who said there was a gastric trouble, for 
which he prescribed. Our time in Smyrna was 



TO THE END. 461 

therefore very quiet. Mr. Garry made an excursion 
to Ephesus. A guide who had volunteered to con- 
duct him proved good for nothing, but to exact 
money, and the visit was not very profitable. 

On Wednesday the doctor said we could go on, 
and his permission and warranty were most grateful. 
We thought that the boy would be as well off at sea, 
and we knew that he should be moving towards 
better care than he could have anywhere else. At 
two o'clock we went to the Italian steamer, the 
JPachi7io^ and were hardly in our state-room before 
wiDrd was brought that the captain wished to see 
me. This was an unusual courtesj^ but I responded 
to it. The captain was a man of substantial appear- 
ance, but of few words, and those chiefly in a lan- 
guage unfamiliar to me. But Mr. Mill was there. 
The captain remarked that I had brought a sick boy 
on board, and that he did not dare to take him. I 
remarked, through the interpreter, that the boy had 
been sea-sick, and was suffering from its effects. I 
cannot repeat the conversation. There had been 
cholera in Egypt, — more's the pity — but the chol- 
era had made quarantine, and if the steamer reached 
Italy with sickness on board she might be detained 
for weeks. The agent for the steamer kindly ex- 
pressed his belief that there was no danger, and that 
the boy should be allowed to go. The captain cluiig 
to his fears. " Would he regard the certificate of a 
physician ? " He would. The agent and Mr. Mill 
jumped into a boat and went ashore, sought out the 
doctor, and came back with a written certificate that 
this was a case of mal de mer. Still the captain 



462 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

frowned. Not a ray of hope illumined his bronzed 
face. We had brought up from Beirut an Italian 
Consul, with his family. To him I appealed. I said, 
" You have seen this boy on the ship all the way from 
Beirut to Smyrna. You know the whole matter. 
Won't you please tell the captain that it is nothing* 
but a case of sea-sickness?" "No; I won't inter- 
fere. I'm not a doctor." "But you know there's 
nothing the matter with the boy." "Are you a 
doctor ? " " No ; but here is the physician's certifi- 
cate." I could make no impression on him. I 
became persuaded that it was he who had complained 
to the captain and awakened his fears. The little 
man was afraid that under the peculiar rules of his 
country there might come some inconvenience, and 
he preferred to have us suffer the inconvenience. 
Better that we should wait at Smyrna than that he 
should be detained at Brindisi. I was well nigh in 
despair. After so m^^ny delays, after so much 
anxiety and suffering, to be put off the last steamer 
which we needed did seem to be hard. But you can 
generally trust a sailor, if you can reach him. The 
captain was true to his calling. He consented that 
we should go to the Piraeus. There, as he said, the 
agent of the ship would decide whether we could go 
further. I doubt if he meant to ask him. But the 
compromise answered a good purpose, and when the 
Pachino steamed from the harbor of Smyrna the boy 
was on board. 

We were to have sailed at four o'clock in the 
afternoon. The sea was so rough that we did not 
leave until eight on Thursday morning. It was a 



TO THE END, 463 

very hard passage. I never saw the Mediterranean 
more angry and turbulent. The ship was lightly 
loaded and was tossed about in the most reckless 
fashion. I was the only one who was constant at 
meals, but I kept up the proprieties of the ship. 
The Italian consul came into a better feeling, and 
seemed to regret his churlishness. He told me that 
he spoke to the captain in my behalf. He exerted 
himself to make it plain to me how I could get from 
southern Italy to Switzerland, and at the Piraeus he 
took his large household and went on shore to spend 
a week with friends, and to wait for a calmer sea. 
We reached the Piraeus about seven on Friday 
morning. I found the captain on deck. "How is 
your son?" "Better." "Do you think you can 
get him through ? " " Oh, yes." We heard nothing 
of an appeal to the agent. 

We sailed again at noon. The distant glimpse 
of Athens was pleasing and attractive. But our 
thoughts v/ere not with the past. Saturday was a 
hard day. The ship was jumping and rolling with- 
out pause or change. The boy was my anxious 
care. Yet he seemed to be doing well. Mr. Mill 
was attentive and he was something of a surgeon. 
The cook and steward did all they could in the way 
of tempting soups. Mr. Garry was most thoughtful 
and unselfish. He had always an encouraging word. 
" Ken will come through all right." He believed in 
dreams. I told him that in the night I saw a man 
standing over me as if he would strike me. " Well, 
he didn't strike you, did he ?" " No." " Don't you 
know what that means? It is just as plain. You're 



464 SOME THINGS ABROAD. 

anxious about your boy. The trouble is standing 
over you, but it won't strike you." Still, they were 
long hours and serious ones, day and night, night 
and day. Sunday was better. There was less sea. 
The boy was doing very well. I watched him and 
nursed him. I read through the Epistle to the 
Hebrews, and saw how much more it means when 
read as a whole. I cherished every hope which 
came to me. Late in the afternoon we reached 
Brindisi. A boat came oflF, and an officer was sent 
on shore. We were notified that we must be on 
deck early the next morning, when the quarantine 
officers would inspect us. On Monday morning the 
rain poured down. It was unlikely that the doctors 
would come to us, or at the time appointed. For 
some m3^sterious reason they were on hand promptl3\ 
They took their places at the side of the ship, and 
the crew marched by them and back again. The 
third-class passengers did the same. Our turn 
came. It was the critical moment. I told the boy 
that he must do his best. He was thin and pale, 
and uncertain as to his gait. The fortunate rain 
allowed me to conceal his face with an umbrella, 
while I let him rest on my arm. Mr. Garry consid- 
erately walked next, to cover any peculiarities of 
locomotion. We went past reasonably well, and, 
before we could make our way back, the doctors 
had pronounced us all right, and were on their way 
down to their boat. We were told that we could 
go on shore the next day. Why must we wait ? 
Nobody knew. It had been said. We waited. It 
was a good place, if we mast wait. But days were 
few and precious then. 



TO THE END. 465 

The harbor was very pleasant. The stern castle 
frowned upon ns with its round towers. We 
thought of the story of the old town which 
marked the end of the Appian Way and was thus 
bound to Rome. We were carefully watched lest 
we should escape to the shore. I do not know how 
they thought we might effect this. I doubt if they 
thought the matter out so far as that. Early on 
Tuesday morning we were called and counted, and 
ordered on deck. The government took every pre- 
caution against the few wanderers from the West. 
But when we reached the deck, the officers had com- 
pleted their inspection and departed. We left the 
ship at half-past eight and with delight set our feet 
on the soil of Italy. We found a very comfortable 
hotel, the Oriental, where we established ourselves 
for a few hours. It was interesting to walk in the 
steep, narrow, winding streets, among the houses of 
stone which show their age, and to mark the signs 
of a new life which is coming in now that this is 
made the point of departure for steamers to the 
East. Brindisi has its history, but we were weary 
of the past. Still, we enjoyed this bit of the empire 
which has been preserved by its distance from the 
capital. 

In the afternoon we took the train for the north. 
At Foggia Mr. Garry parted from us, as he was 
going to Naples. We regretted to have him leave, 
for 'he had been a very kind companion. We have 
not seen him since, but we heard of him Avhile he 
was pursuing his exploration of Italian cities, wliere 
his tall form was conspicuous, crowned with his 



466 SOME THINGS ABROAD, 

Oriental fez, and asserting its nationality wher- 
ever it went. 

At Foggia we changed to a compartimento di 
letti^ a very convenient apartment, where the 
night's ride was as pleasant as it could be made. 
The road through much of its course ran close to 
the sea, and it was very restful to look out over the 
Adriatic as it lay quietly by our side, and to know 
that we were set free from its tossings and delays. 
We saw a little of Bologna from our windows, and 
there changed cars and came by a long day's ride to 
Torino. There we were put into a coupelit^ a narrow 
compartment with a series of extension chairs on 
which we could stretch ourselves. Mr. Mill took 
leave of us, as his mission was ended, and we seemed 
qualified to finish the journey under our own guid- 
ance. We were to change cars at Culoz. If there 
is one thing that is more annoying than others in 
travelling in a strange country, it is to know that 
you have to leave one train and find another at some 
uncertain time in the night, and chiefly by your own 
wit. Sleep is too perilous to be indulged in. A 
moment's lapse may be the delay of hours. I kept 
awake as we entered and left one station after an- 
other, till at length I thought we must be near 
Culoz. No one spoke the magic word in my hear- 
ing. When my suspicions had become sufficiently 
strong, I inquired of the porter who opened our door 
if that was Culoz. Instantly he made it evident 
that it was not, and, further, that Culoz had been 
left behind. The unfortunate lapse had befallen me 
in spite of all my pains, and at the fatal time. With 



TO THE END. 467 

the hurried advice and vigorous assistance of the 
porter, the boy and I tumbled out of the car and 
stood on the lonesome, dreary, dismal platform of 
a large station and saw our train pluuge on into the 
dark. Where were we? — At Amberieux. Nobody 
else seemed to be there. When we could leave no 
one could tell us. We made our way to a dimly 
lighted restaurant and sought information. To pro- 
cure that we procured refreshments. The sleepy 
proprietor had more coffee than knowledge, or more 
which was available for our purposes, but there was 
a similarity in the qualitj^ of the two. Thrown 
upon our own resources, we scanned the walls of the 
room and discovered a railway poster. To our relief, 
we made out that a train would soon come along 
which would take us back to Cuioz. It came. We 
were wide-awake when Culoz was called out. There 
we took a train for Geneva. Through our delay on 
the road we missed the train we meant to take for 
Geneva ; but the station was large and comfortable, 
and the hour or two which we had to wait passed 
pleasantly enough. Then we went on to Lausanne, 
and thence to Vevey. Nobody at the station seemed 
to be expecting us. We made our way through the 
wet snow, carrying our luggage, and finally attracted 
tlie attention of the omnibus driver whom we sought. 
When he dropped us at the door of the Hotel Monnet 
this journey ended. 

It was a good place for the end. The situation of 
Yevey is fine, as it looks out upon the lake and to- 
wards the snowy mountains beyond. It has been a 
favorite place of resort. The climate is milder than 



468 SOME THINGS ABBOAD. 

at Geneva, while the quiet of the little town is very 
restful. The name of Rousseau is associated with the 
place, and the traveller now finds a coffee-house 
where he found an inn. The streets which wind 
among the simple houses have a quaint and simple 
look, while the market-place has the attractions 
which belong to the assembling of busy people 
intent on the affairs of daily life. St. Martin's 
Church, nearly four hundred years old, stands high 
above the town, among the graves of the people. 
The view is very fine from the hill which it adorns. 
Within the church are the tombs of two English 
regicides, — Broughton, who read the sentence of 
death to Charles I., and Ludlow, his associate. 
There are other churches ; among them a fine Rus- 
sian chapel with a gilded dome, and a handsome 
English church. There is a boy's school, also, which 
has been well patronized by English and American 
families. The boys have excellent facilities for 
boating, and for other things which they delight in. 
Vevey has attractive shops for books and jewelry, 
while Mack's Bazaar is a museum crowded with 
things in general in an immense variety. There are 
delightful excursions in every direction. Montreux 
is not far away, with its figs and pomegranates, its 
laurels and its health, and the Castle of Chillon on 
its rocks in the lake. The prison is very gloomy, 
with heavy memories of Bonnivard worn into the 
pavement and lying on the stone where he sat in his 
weary years. 

Vevey is indeed a charming place for resting and 
thinking. But for two persons who had come into 



TO THE END. 469 

its beauty and repose the chief pleasure was under 
the Three Crowns, where a united household sat 
around the blazing logs and talked of wanderings 
in the East and of the return to the fairer land 
across the sea. The hours were as a dream be- 
tween two hurried days. I think of them as I write. 
Once again I look out upon the lake and over to the 
hills. At Vevey, with the gulls swooping to the 
windows, resting their broad wings on the still air, 
and plucking the bread from a child's hand, I lay 
down my pen. 



INDEX, 



AbbottsfoPvD, 58 
Acropolis, "^08 
jEgean, Sunday in, 273-275 
Albana, River, 301 
Athens, 200-231 

Acropolis, 208 

Agora, 218 

Areopagus, 215 

Eleusis, 224 

Herodes Atticus, 207 

Mars' Hill, 215 

Parthenon, 211 

Pentelic marble, 222 

Sanctuary of ^sculapius, 207 

Stadium, 204 

Temple of Zeus Olympius, 205 

Theseum, 220 

University of, 229 

Wine-making, 228 

Baalbec, 293 

Ruins of, 296 

Temples and walls of, 294 
Baden-Baden, 132 

Castle of, 134 
Banias, 330 

Market-day in, 332 
Bare no, 165 

Villa Clara, 166 
Bedouins, Dwelling of, 334 

Customs and dress of, 335 
Beirut, 276, 456 

Christian schools, 279 

Lemonade, 278 

Selection of horses, 281 
Belfast, 17 
Bergen, 64-68 
Bethany, 392, 419 

Tomb of Lazarus, 420 
Bethel, 382 
Bethlehem, 406 

Chapel of the Innocents, 411 

Chapel of the Nativity, 410 

Chapel and Tomb of St. Jerome, 
411 

Merchants of, 408 

AYells of David, 407 
Blarney Castle, 12 
Blarney Stone, 12 
Borgund, Church of, 93 
Brindisi, 464 



Caledonian Canal, 45 
Cana of Galilee, 350 
Castle of Baden-Baden, 134 
Castle, Blarney, 12 
Castle of Chillon, 468 
Castle of Dunluce, 21 
Castle, Edinburgh, 48 
Castle of Laufen, 150 
Castle, Nuremberg, 145 
Castle, Ross, 16 
Cathedral of Cephalonia, 198 
Cathedral, Cologne, 125 
Cathedral, Dublin, 16 
Cathedral, Glasgow, 29 
Cathedral of Milan, 174-176 
Cathedral of Strasbourg, 130 
Cathedral of St. Mary, 40 
Certosa di Pavia, 179 
Chapel of the Angels, 356 
Chapel of the Annunciation, 357 
Chapel of the Innocents, 411 
Chapel of Joseph, 357 
Chapel of the Nativity, 410 
Chapel of St. Jerome, 411 
Chapel of St. Michael, 161 
Chapel, Roslin, 50 
Christiania, 100 

Frogner, 103 

Hospital, 104 

Kariol, 106 

National Exhibition, 102 

Oscar's Hall, 106 

Viking's ships, 104 
Church, Crimean Memorial, 264 
Church of Borgund, 93 
Church of Christ, 437 
Church of the Copts, 433 
Church of the Holv Sepulchre, 424 
Church of Our Lady, 119 
Church of St. Ambrogio, 177 
Churcli of St. Justin, 184 
Church of St. Lawrence, 138 
Church of S. Maria degli Angioli, 168 
Church of St. Martin, 468 
Church of St. Peter, 128 
Church of St. Sophia, 245 
Church of St. Ursula, 127 
Church, Trinity, 119 
Cologne, 125 

Cathedral of, 125 

Church, St. Peter's, 128 



471 



9 



INDEX. 



Colog"ne {continued) 

Church of St. Ursula, 127 
Como, 170 
Coiistantinoph^, 233 

Bazaars, 237 

Bible House, 262 

Bridge between Pera and Stam- 
boul, 237 

Church, Crimean Memorial, 264 

Church of St. Sophia, 245 

Constantine, Grave of, 249 

Currency of, 231) 

Dogs of, 252 

Hippodrome, 242 

Home or Girls' School, 259 

Public Baths, 251 

Robert College, 2.56 

to Damascus, 265 

Walls of, 244 
Copenhagen, 119 

Church of Our Lady, 119 

Church of the Trinity, 119 

Thorwaldsen, 119, 121 

Tivoli, 120 

Rutclibaueu, 120 
Cork, 11 

Blarney Castle, 12 

Blarney Stone, 12 
Culoz, 467 
Cyprus, 276 

Damascus, 304-306 

Bazaar, 308 

Camels, 313 

Caravan, 313 

Citadel, 316 

Drama, 314 

Father of Antiquities, .309 

Great Mosque, 319 

History, 305 

Horse-market, 308 

Hotel Dimitri, 304 

House of Ambar, 317 

House of Ananias, 311 

House of Naaman, 311 

House of Shamai, 317 

Mosques, 318 

Plane-tree, 308 

Quarters and streets, 307 

Schools, 318 

St. Paul, 312 

Straight Street, 310 

Tomb of Bibaus, 320 

Tomb of St. George, 312 
Dan, 334 
Dead Sea, 387 
Dome of the Rock, 398 
Dothan, 366 
Dryburgh, 59 
Dublin, 16 

Cathedral of, 16 
Dunluce Castle, 21 
DUrer, Albert, 143 

Edinburgh, 48 
Castle of, 48 



Edinburgh {conthmed) 

House of John Knox, 49 

Queen's Drive, 49 

St. Giles, 49 
Eide, 84 
Eleusis, 224 
El-Fuleh, 362 
Esdraelon, Plain of, 361 

Fagekhunu, 98 
Fall of Foyers, 46 
Fingal's Cave, 42 
Fjord, Hardanger, 68 
Foggia, 465 

Galilee, Sea of, 339, 343, 347 

Storm on, 341 
Gap of Dunloe, 15 
Gerizim, Mount, 373 
Gethsemane, 417 
Giant's Causeway, 18 
Giant's Chair, 21 
Giant's Well, 19 
Gil gal, 389 
Glasgow, 28 

Cathedral of, 29 

John Knox, Statue of, 29 

Norman Macleod, Statue of, 29 

Sunday in, 33-37 
Golden Gate, 402 
Good Samaritan, 391 
Gudvangen, 89 

Hippodrome, 242 
Holyrood Palace, 48 

Ion A, .39 

Cathedral of, 40 
Ireland, 10 

Cork, 11 

Dublin, 16 

Giant's Causeway, 19 

Killarney, 13 

Muckross Abbey, 15 

People of, 22-26 
Isola Bella, 166 
Halian Lakes, 164-165 

Jacop>'s Well, 377 
Jaffa, 444 

Arrival of steamer, 450 

House of Simon, 448 

Moslem burials, 450 

Well in, 446 
Jenim, 365 
Jericho, 386 

House of Zaccheus, 386 
Jerusalem, History of, .394-396 

American colony, 436 

Church of the Holy Sepulchre, 424 

Church of Christ, 437 

Church of the Copts, 433 

Church of St. Anne, 415 

Church of the Virgin, 416 

Dome of the Rock, 398 

El-aksa, 400 



INDEX. 



473 



Jerusalem (contented) 

Garden of Gethsemane, 417 

Golden Gate, 402 

Haram esh Sheiif , 397 

Lord's Supper, Room of, 413 

Magician. 440 

Olivet, 430 

Pool of Siloam, 413 

Potter's Field, 415 

Sabbath in, 435 

Solomon's Stables, 401 

Tomb of Absalom, 434 

Tomb of David, 414 

Tomb of the Judges, 433 

Tomb of the Kings, 433 

Tomb of Rachel, 406 

Via Dolorosa, 423 

Wailing-place, 403 

Well of the Star, 405 
Jezreel, 364 

Fountain of, 364 
Jordan, River, ;389 

KastOm, 302 
Kefr-Hawar, 323 
Kefr-Kenna, 349 
Khan Jubb Ytisef , 338 
Killarney, 13 
Knox, John, 29 

Desk in Hawthornden, 51 

House in Edinburgh, 49 

Statue in Glasgow, 29 

Last Supper, Da A^inci, 178 

Laufen, Castle of, 150 
Lebonah, 3S0 
Locarno, Town of, 164 
Loch Lomond, 31 
Lucerne, 151 

Hofkirche, 152 

Lion of, 153 

Market-place, 152 
Lugarno, 167 

Cliurch of S. Maria degli Angioli, 
16S 
Luino, 167 
Lysicrates, 3Ionument of, 206 

MACLEOD, Nor:\[AX, 30 
3Ianessi, 201 
Mars' Hill, 215 
^lediterranean steamer, 197 
Mejdel-esh Shems, 326 

Housekeeping in, 326 

Protestant cliapel, 328 

Sunday in, 327 
Melrose," 52 

Abbey, 52-55 

Sundav in, 55 
Menaggio, 168-170 
Merom, 337 
Milan, 171 

Brera Gallerv, 177 

Cathedral, 174-176 

Certosa di Pavia, 179 

Church of St. Ambrogio, 177 



Milan {continued) 
Last Supper, by Da Yinci, 178 
Monastery of S. Maria delle 

Grazie, 178 
Sundav in, 176 

3Iount of Olives, 391 

3Iuckross Abbey, 15 

31ustapha, 453-457 

Xablus, see ScHECHE>r 
Nazareth, 351 

Chapel of the Angels, 376 

Chapel of the Annunciation, 357 

Chapel of Joseph, 357 

Fountain of the Virgin, 359 

House of Mary, 355 

Life of Jesus in, 354 

Mary's Well, 360 

Synagogue, 358 
Xeuhausen, 150 

Castle of Laufen, 150 

Schweizerhof, 150 
Xewcastle-upon-Tyne, 61 
Norway and Sweden, History of, 

107-117 
Nuremberg, 137 

Beautiful Fountain, 142 

Castle of, 145 

St. Lawrence' 

Sunday in, 148 

Walls "and towers of, 142 

Ob AX, 38 
Oddc, 71 
Olivet, 430 
Ordgaard, 97 
Oscar's Hall, 106 

PADUA, 181 

Chapel of St. George, 184 

Church of St. Justin, 184 

Church of St. Antonio, 184 

Scuola del Santo, 184 

Streets, 182 

Universitv of, 183 
Palace of the Doges, 188 

Bridge of Sighs, 188 
Parthenon, 211 
Patmos, 273 
Pentelic marble, 221 
Piraeus, Tlie, 463 
Polvcarp, 269 
Porlezza, 168 
Portrush, 17 

Giant's Causeway, 18 

Premier Electric Railway, 18 



Ramleh, 443 
Rigi, The, 155 

Klosterli, 160 

Sundav at, 162 
Robert College, 256 
Roslin Castle and Chapel, 50 
Ross Castle, 16 



474 



INDEX, 



Sachs, Hans, 143 
Safed, 349 
Samaria, 367 

Church of St. John, 371 

Woman of, 379 
School at Athens, 203 
Schweizerhof, 150 
Scotch Lakes, 31 
Shechera, 369 

Funeral procession, 376 

Samaritan synagogue, 370 

Streets, houses, and trade, 369, 370 

Sunday in, 374 
StatHi, 42 
St. John, 274 
St. Paul, 217, 312 
Sychar, see Shechem 
Sychem, see Shechem 
Syria, 282 

Tomb of Doris, 293 

Tomb of Noah, 291 

Travel in, 282, 291 

Temple of Baalbec, 294 
Temple of Zeus Olympius, 205 
Temple of Theseus, 220 
Thorwaldsen, 121 
Tiberias, 341 

Castle in, 343 

People, dress, and customs, 344 
Tomb of Absalom, 434 
Tomb of David, 414 
Tomb of Doris, 293 
Tomb of Joseph, 376 
Tomb of the Judges, 433 
Tomb of the Kings, 433 



Tomb of Lazarus, 420 
Tomb of Noah, 291 
Tomb of St. Jerome, 411 
Tomb of Walter Scott, 59 
Trieste, 193-197 

Ulvik,81 

University of Athens, 229 

University of Padua, 183 

Valley of Doves, 349 
Venice, 184 

Academy, 189 

Armenian Convent of St. Laz- 
arus, 190 

Bridge of Sighs, 188 

Palace of the Doges, 188 

The Frari, 189 
Vevey, 467 

St. Martin's Church, 468 
Via Dolorosa, 423 
Vik, 73 

Church in, 79 
Viking's ships, 104 
Vitznau, 154 

Voringsfos, Excursion to, 74-79 
Vossevangen, 85 

Church in, 86 

Watlino-place, 403 
Well of David, 407 
Well of Jacob, 379 
Well of Mary, 360 
Well of the Star, 415 

ZANTE, 199 



THE SCHOOL OF HOME. 

Let the school of home be a good one. Let reading be 
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i 



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Address D. Lothrop Company, Boston. 

ii 





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iv 



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vi 





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